Together Forever
by Snake Staff
Summary: Hundreds of years have passed since the wedding of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. As with all mortal life, Shining Armor was fated to die and his soul to pass from the world. But with magic, his end was averted. What price will his immortality demand?
1. Chapter 1

I should be dead.

Whoa there! It isn't what you're thinking! Yes, in most cases those words would be coming from the mouth of a suicidally depressed pony. But that's not me. In my case, those words aren't so much a declaration of lack of will to live as an objective observation. My body, the flesh I was born to, succumbed to the ravages of old age and crumbled to dust more than… three centuries ago, I think it was. Maybe four by this point. I'll have to ask Twily, I'm sure she has an exact date, down to the second if I know that mare.

I suppose I should introduce myself. Tartarus' gates, it's been a long time since I've done that. Most everypony I see knows who I am, and for those few that don't a long series of royal announcers have been there to clear that up.

My name is Shining Armor, Prince of the Crystal Empire, Husband to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Brother to Princess Twilight Sparkle, Captain of the Crystal Guard, Patriarch of the Royal House, and Celestia knows how many more titles and honors I could list. And I should be dead.

* * *

My hooves clatter loudly against the crystal steps of our tower-palace as I walk down the stairs beside my lovely wife. You know, on the day we were married, I was actually a bit taller than her. Funny, but true. Now she's as big as Luna was all those years ago, and she can look down on me pretty easily. Alicron growth, as I've learned, slows dramatically as they age until it culminates in the beautiful, statuesque figures enjoyed by Celestia, and later, Luna. Cadence isn't quite there yet, but give her a couple more centuries and she should be.

Her hooves still make that natural, soft clopping sound when she walks. Mine make the hard crack of rock slamming into rock. No other pony I've ever heard sounds quite like me when they trod the Crystal Empire. You might think this was a small thing, but to me it just serves as another daily reminder of what's become of me. I've had most my regular haunts – the center of the throne room, our chambers, the more private staircases – carpeted, just so I don't have to be reminded of it quite so often. On the public Grand Staircase, however, that just isn't politic, so I grit my teeth and bare it.

As it always does, a small voice haunts the back of my mind as we descend.

_This isn't walking._

I glance up at my wife. Cadence – always so perceptive, so attuned to me after all these years – catches my glimpse in the corner of those wonderful violet eyes. She gives me a soft smile, as if to reassure me. Her left wing stretches out just a little bit and runs itself over my back for a few seconds. Maybe a bit informal for such a big event, but honestly after ruling for so many years a pony earns the right to violate a tiny bit of protocol every once in a while. The comforting gesture is appreciated, but as to the actual wings… there aren't really words in our language to properly describe it. I can sense that she's stroking me with those long, preened feathers of hers, but I can't _feel_ their soft touch. All I can perceive is that there's a slight pressure on my back that moves back and forth for a short time, then lifts itself. In spite of her intentions, my wife's sweet gesture only makes the damned voice speak up again.

_This isn't feeling._

Still, whatever I'm feeling, I'm a Prince, and this is an international summit. I have a duty to my ponies, my office, and my wife not to spoil it with my own sour mood. So it is that I push the thoughts away as our latest Royal Herald, Thundering Voice, announces our arrival to the hall full of guests.

"And finally, please welcome our esteemed hosts, their royal majesties Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire!"

The hall breaks out into the polite, refined, upper-class stamping I've heard so much of. I smile and wave with my wife, falling into a well-rehearsed routine. The lords and ladies of our land and many beyond are here, and it would be rude to disappoint them. Even as I do, my eyes scan the crowd for the delegates I really am excited to see. Thankfully, alicorns are rarely difficult to pick out in a crowd. Celestia and Luna, or "dear Aunties" as they've insisted I call them, are here, dressed up for the occasion and wearing those serene smiles they can always manage. My smile becomes a bit more genuine when I spy my Little Sister Best Friend Forever right next to them.

It feels a bit weird to call a mare your LSBFF when she's a good head taller than you and still growing, but to me Twily will always be that adorable little filly I cuddled and whose closet I had to search for the boogie-mare. Her mane finally picked up that ethereal, flowing quality that marks an older alicorn about eighty years ago, while I was visiting Canterlot. For all that she's grown and matured, I distinctly remember her squealing like a filly when somepony pointed it out to her. The pictures I took of her hopping around as if Starswirl the Bearded had come back to life and offered to personally tutor her may or may not have something to do with that particular memory. She's smiling and, proving that she isn't any more concerned about court protocol than she's ever been, cheerfully waving back at Cadence and I.

Right beside "little" Twily is her ever-loyal assistant, Spike. My, how that one has grown. He's around twice my LSBFF's size now, with long green wings to match her pair. He never did enjoy these kind of events, so I wonder what she had promise him to convince him to come along. Whatever it is, he's likely to get it – the crystal ponies' outright worship of him may have faded a bit with the passing of generations, but that dragon is still very well regarded around these parts.

My smile slips just a fraction when I spy the two members of the Equestrian delegation that I'm not so happy to see. Prince Blueblood and Princess Bluebelle, the twin heirs to the legacy of House Blueblood and walking counterevidence to the theory of the superiority of noble blood. How the reigning Prince Blueblood that was around when I was born managed to convince a mare to wed him I'll never know, but eventually he did. Centuries later, the twin brother and sister were his latest descendants. I'll admit to having considered the possibility that they're his reincarnations, but at the moment I've concluded that the condition is genetic.

But naturally, as I remember my unpleasant associations with Bluebloods past and present, that little voice comes back into my head.

_This isn't seeing._

It's as if that thing is governed by a particularly malicious personal demon, determined to spoil my good times and make the bad ones worse. Perhaps it's Discord. Wouldn't be the first time that "reformed" chaos spirit decided to have a bit fun at a political gathering.

In a strict sense, of course, what I do is seeing. In fact, it's 20-20 vision, better than I had in all but the very prime of my natural life. Everything is sharp and clear, and I can focus in or out at will to pick out the tiniest details or sweep a broad crowd. If I wanted to, I could even apply filters to the scene before me to see into the Aether and observe all the magic here. It has been helpful, I'm not afraid to confess, but these eyes aren't _mine_. Imagine, if you will, seeing everything through a particularly high-quality camera. There's just a perpetual sense of wrongness about the world.

The stamping slowly dies down, and Cadence and I make our way down the last of the stairs and into the crowd of visiting dignitaries. I can see delegates from Equestria, Zebrica, Bitaly, the Gryphon Empire, Minotauria, Prance, Canida, and many more. We have hundreds of guests here, all to endure – excuse me, "attend" – what's become a generational ritual: the World Forum of Peace and Cooperation. For a solid week, guests will listen to speeches, attend balls and feasts, socialize, and fraternize, all for the purpose of building trust and friendship between our lands. Then they'll go home, forget the whole thing, and do what they were going to do anyway.

Do I sound a bit cynical? Sorry, it's hard to remain optimistic when you remember that many of these delegates are from nations with blood grudges against each other, land disputes, trade wars, religious tensions, and so on. On one particularly memorable occasion, two nations actually went to war over drunken insults exchanged between ambassadors during one of these conferences. I know Twily meant well when she started this whole tradition two centuries ago, but even as the Princess of Friendship she's still a bit naïve about the power of violence.

After the first WFPC at Twily's castle, it was decided to hold it in a different place every time, to symbolize the international nature of the event. This year, it's the Crystal Empire's turn to host. Lucky us.

My wife and I are forced to smile and spend the next few minutes shaking hooves with our honored guests. I try and put on my best face, ignoring the odd looks I get from those that haven't seen me before and the disdain in the eyes of not a few that have. Cadence and I stick together – it's more pleasant that way. Far fewer ponies are likely to call me "crystal freak" under their breath or otherwise insult me with an alicorn princess at my side. By Imperial tradition, I'm obliged to defend my honor in a ceremonial joust under certain conditions, and I'd rather not mar Twily's event with an honor duel, whatever I may think of its effectiveness. She's my LSBFF, after all, and she's always happy when this goes off without a hitch.

"Shiny!" my ears pick out of the crowd's ambient noise.

I turn to face the source of the sound. "Twily!"

_This isn't hearing._

That voice can shut it. My sister is here, and I won't be the one to bring her down.

My little sister wraps her hoofs around me, in blatant violation of royal protocol. But I don't give a toss and hug her right back. We both squeeze tight, but neither of us has any need of air in the first place. Besides, my body isn't even soft enough to bend under her grip. My happiness at seeing her again is only somewhat disturbed by the fact that I still can only sense pressure – the warm feel of my little Twily's legs around my neck is only a fond memory.

"It's so good to see you again, BBBFF!" she squeals excitedly. "I-" Her eyes finally alert her to the fact that some ponies near us have broken conversation and are staring. There's a light blush on her face before she assumes that unnatural court pose and gives me a ceremonial bow. "I humbly thank you for your hospitality, Prince Armor."

I repress the sigh before replying as befits a princess of Equestria. "I bid you a warm welcome, Princess Sparkle," I say, also ceremonially bowing to her.

Cadence and Twilight glance at each other, and it's clear to me that both want to do that cute little dance they've had since foalhood. Still, both have other duties to see to now, so they indulge in a polite and restrained greeting that neither seems to truly enjoy.

So it goes for nearly three hours. Cadence and I greet guest after guest after guest, from Crystal Empire nobility to Zebrican ambassadors. If I'm being honest, I don't remember most of their names. I may be blessed with an imitation of their longevity, but I have nothing near an alicorn's memory. Or it may be that I simply don't care. Most of these assorted ponies will be gone from the Empire soon. By the time of the next WFPC, almost all of them will be in a different position and won't be back. Or else simply be dead.

A guest I do recognize presents herself. Frankly, I'd rather she hadn't.

"Your majesties," says Lady Rose Quartz, widow of the late Lord Topaz, as she bows her head. She looks to Cadence first, a smile on her face. "Princess Cadenza. It is an honor to be guests in your palace. I thank you sincerely, from the bottom of my heart." Cadence offers her hoof, which Lady Quartz takes and shakes politely. She turns to me, and her smile fades. "My Prince," she offers, simply. I take her hoof and shake it. It's a slight thing, but I detect a brief alteration in pressure consistent with a shudder the moment our hooves meet.

A stallion is standing behind Lady Quartz, looking to be waiting politely. She gestures for him to come forwards. He bows ritually to each of us. Cadence first, of course. As he does so, I'm trying to place him, but coming up blank.

"My son," the good Lady interrupts my thoughts to answer the question. "Gleaming Jewel."

"Your majesties," he says. "I thank you for your hospitality."

Unusually, he looks to me first. I offer my hoof, and he shakes it. It's polite, but firm, and if he is disgusted by me he does a good job of hiding it. He turns his attention to my wife, and she also offers her hoof. He bends his head down and kisses it lightly. Cadence's face remains as serene as ever, but I can see her wings ruffle slightly, feathers standing on end. Though not forbidden, this method of greeting is… unorthodox, especially to a married mare.

"Again, my thanks, your highnesses," Gleaming Jewel bows again before he and his mother fade back into the crowd around us.

* * *

"Let the feast begin!" says Thundering Voice, in his usual bombastic bass tone.

After the "excitement" that is the initial gathering, the welcoming feast forms the formal start of the WFPC. For all the delegates that have arrived, even our largest dining room is inadequate. Circumstances have forced us instead to hold the meal outdoors, dozens of tables arranged in neat rows underneath our towering palace. Cadence and I, as the hosts, are seated at the head of the central table, to be served first.

Or, at least, we would, if either of us were actually eating here.

_This isn't feasting._

Shut up already, damned voice.

As I look up and down the many dishes set out on the table for our guests, I feel a ghost of hunger. I know it's a ghost because I don't have a stomach anymore. I neither need nor can consume food. My throat is carved deeply enough into my neck to avoid disconcerting anypony, but that's it. It connects to nothing, so any food I swallow simply stays back there until somepony removes it or else it rots. That does wonders for a stallion's breath, let me tell you. In any case, I have no sense of taste, so there's no point in even pretending to consume anything. Still, I can remember vividly all sorts of wonderful foods I used to eat. It's enough to make a stallion's mouth water.

If, you know, this mouth was capable of watering.

Cadence, sweet as always, can eat but never does so in front of me. She knows that it bothers me, and willingly sinks to my level to try and make me even a bit happier. It's sweet, but what does it say about a pony when his very special somepony has to lower herself to make up for his weaknesses?

Sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice in marrying her. Not for me, you understand – she's been the most wonderful wife a stallion could ask for – but for her. I am, or was, a mortal; she, an immortal. My body withered and died after little more than a century of life, even with her best magical and medical care. Hers not only endures, but grows more beautiful and powerful with every passing year. Could another pony care for her better if I were out of the way, or had never been there in the first place? Perhaps, if she had waited and wed an alicorn male instead, she might be better off. I've never seen one, but Celestia's told me that she and Luna's father was such a stallion, so I know they must exist somewhere. I'm not a foal anymore - she shouldn't need to take care of me like this.

It's a bit late to ask questions like that, though. Cadence, my lovely princess, seems to have gotten quite attached to me. When I was on my deathbed, she was completely distraught. She refused to leave my bedside at the hospital and return to ruling, no matter what anypony said or did. Not even Celestia or Luna could get her to budge. I tried to convince her to let me go, but when she really wants something that mare can be damned stubborn. She even whispered to me one night that she was considering taking her own life if I passed, no matter what I or anypony else thought about it. Even joked that it was "motivation for you to get better". I never knew she had a thing for gallows humor before that. Alicorns naturally live forever, but they can be killed; that much I knew. Sombra, after all, had accomplished that very feat in his coup.

In the end, Twily – sweet, sweet LSBFF – was the one who discovered a solution. She'd been desperately researching ways to stop death since the first her friends, the Elements of Harmony, began themselves to age and pass away. In the end, she found something in one of Sombra's old labs. The tyrant king and I, for everything else that was different about us, shared the fact that we were mortal unicorns. He too had sought a method to preserve the lives of ponies throughout all the ages of the world – though only for himself, naturally. Twily came up with something based on his notes on the soul.

Cadence had to beg me for days before I agreed. I didn't – and still don't – particularly wish to live forever. Still, I'm a defender at heart. Not a very good one, by any measure I can think of, but a defender nonetheless. I couldn't protect my wife from Chrysalis or Sombra as I had wished, but I could at least protect her from suicidal depression. In the end, I consented. My body died, but I lived on. At a price.

Listen to me, complaining even after having had centuries to get used to this. But how can a pony get used to life as a soul in an animated crystal statue of himself?

* * *

Cadence and I slip into bed together, after hour after tedious hour of enduring the ceremonial feast, speeches, and a quick dance. This bed is the same one where we made our twin foals, I remember. I'll never forget those innocent little eyes looking up at their papa for the first time. I'll also never forget the days I attended their funerals. And those of my grandfoals. And great-grandfoals. And great-great-grandfoals. Nopony should have to go through that. But we still have family here in the Crystal Empire, so barring miracles my wife and I will have to do it again. And again. And again. And again. Forever.

Obviously I'm not capable of… that sort of thing anymore. Probably for the best, all things considered. Though Cadence deserves a stallion who can, there's no real point in bringing it up. Like I said, the mare is damned stubborn when she wants to be. She'd never agree to take a consort. Same damned alicorn martyrdom complex that afflicts her aunts, if you ask me.

Cadence nuzzles the back of my neck. She doesn't say anything, just rubs her nose affectionately. I wish I could feel it. _Really_ feel it, like I used to. But if I had a bit for every time I'd wished something similar…

I roll over and nuzzle her back. My carved crystal muzzle is smooth as glass, but nowhere near as soft as a coat. Still, it's all I can really do. She smiles warmly at me and kisses me lightly on the nose.

"Goodnight, Shining," she whispers to me as she slowly closes her eyes.

"Goodnight, Cadence," I whisper back.

As I get ready to shut down for the night, the voice comes back, one more time.

_This isn't living._


	2. Chapter 2

I'm sure everypony among us has heard the words:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

Beautiful words, for whatever it's worth. They were written a long time ago, but they still resound in the soul of anypony who reads them. And, as the Princess of Love, I can assure you that every word is true.

But there are other words that are just as true, but nopony likes to hear:

Love does not want to let go.

Everything has its dark side, and love is no exception.

* * *

I keep my eyes closed for several minutes while I wait to make absolutely certain that my Shining is asleep. I don't much like keeping things from him, especially things this important, but like Auntie Celestia told me when I was little: sometimes, a princess has to do what a princess has to do. And Princess Mi Amore Cadenza does not intend to let her very special somepony down.

It's honestly a bit hard to judge whether he's really asleep nowadays. The body that Twilight and I made for him doesn't breathe (and therefore doesn't snore), and has no real natural movement to it. Most of the time I have to cast a small spell just to be sure that Shiny has actually fallen asleep. I do that now…

Yep! He's out like a light. Even after all this time he's still a heavy sleeper. His stories of the problems it caused him in the Royal Guard always make me giggle.

I feel a little guilty for leaving him alone, but he shouldn't notice anything. I'll be back in bed in a few hours, in time to wake him up by nibbling on his ear. He always did enjoy that.

My horn flares briefly, and I vanish from our bed, reappearing in what has become my nightly abode. Most ponies say that it isn't healthy to be getting only a two or three hours of sleep every night. I say that I'm a damn alicorn princess. A walking demigod amongst ponies. At my age, I can raze whole cities to the ground by myself, or grow a forest overnight through will and magic alone. I do as I wish, when I wish, where I wish. And what I wish is to help Shining. Besides, my husband has gone centuries without the ability to feel the breeze on his face, to taste food in his mouth, or to be intimate with his wife for my sake. I can make do with a bit less sleep every night for his.

I appear in a blue flash deep underground. These caverns were first mines, then prison cells when their veins of gems ran out, and then they became something much darker with coming of King Sombra. They were his laboratories.

Of course, I've long since dispelled the last remnants of his dark magic that lingered here, substituting my own – considerably less lethal – defenses in their place. That, plus the rumor that I may or may not have been involved in concocting, that Sombra's ghost haunts this place, always seeking fresh ponies to devour, has kept ponies away. This place is my secret, and what lurks down here would be scandalous if it were known to the public.

No, I don't keep little fillies and colts down here and drink their innocent blood to retain my eternal youth. Nor am I some serial killer who likes to lure innocents to their doom and bake them into my pastries. I do not plot to summon unholy abominations from another dimension to consume the world. (Why would I? I live there.)You really shouldn't believe what those conspiracy rags tell you.

Revolting but true side note: Sombra actually did try drinking the blood of foals to retain his youth, if his notes are to be believed. Didn't work.

No, what would be scandalous for me if it were known is the fact that, while I did smash his vile instruments of torture and burnt his experimental devices to cinder, I didn't fully destroy all of Sombra's work. While I hate to credit the evil stallion for anything, whatever else he was the tyrant king was a genius. Ruthless? Yes. Cruel? Yes. Megalomaniacal? Yes. Utterly repulsive? Yes. A dark genius in spite of everything? Also yes.

In Sombra's own quest for immortality and ever-increasing power, he plumbed the depths of biology to the extent that even now, almost a millennium and a half later, we are _still_ catching up to him on some things. His remorseless tactics, such as deliberately introducing injury and disease to helpless prisoners and carefully recording each progression before testing a cure, gave him a wide knowledge of pony biology. What I find most simultaneously fascinating and yet disturbing are his extensive writings on alicorn physiology.

I knew for a long time that my predecessor as princess of the Crystal Empire had been an alicorn. When Sombra staged his coup, the cruel master of dark sorcery faced off one-to-one against the demigoddess that protected the empire and its Crystal Heart. And the goddess fell. And the Crystal Empire fell. With a victory like that in hoof, Sombra was able to declare himself king and nopony, not even Auntie Celestia and Auntie Luna, dared to challenge him for years.

What I didn't know, until the time came to clean out these caverns, was that Sombra had claimed the broken corpse of his enemy as a trophy and an experiment. There's no easy way to say this: he dissected her piece-by-piece, documenting everything he saw. He used her body parts to fuel dark magic, such as when he tossed her heart into the molten metal he used to forge the Alicorn Amulet. Then he mounted her skeleton in a glass case and kept it down here to examine and gloat over at his leisure. The skeleton was still there when I found this place. And it's still there now.

I haven't told anypony about it. Not even my aunties. Not even Twilight. Not even Shining. The princess's remains still have a touch of magic about them, even after all this time. I'd like to bury the bones with honor, and I still intend to do that someday, but… I'm afraid I may need them. I still don't know how I'm going to make Shining a new body, but some instinct tells me these old bones may be important. Until I can get my Shiny out of that crystalline prison, I won't get rid of them.

I walk through the illusionary wall hiding the door, deactivate the jinxes carved into the walls, and identify myself to the crystal golems I've made to guard this place. Once this cavern was Sombra's laboratory, and now it's mine. I have rack upon rack filled with potions, ingredients, alchemy reagents, and chemical solutions. My bookcases are covered in tomes mundane and magical by authors from Staswirl to Celestia. My notes, and Sombra's as well, are neatly organized into binders and filed by topic, date, and relevance. Twilight would be proud, if the alicorn skeleton in a glass case sitting beside one of my chemistry sets didn't freak her out first.

All that is expensive, but truthfully I couldn't care less what this costs me. I'm wealthy on my own, and I have all the resources of our prosperous empire backing me up. Shining gave up his very afterlife – and I have no doubt at all in my mind that it would have been a very pleasant one, with his parents and old friends and even our precious children – just so I wouldn't have to spend an eternity without him. The least I can do in return is create a proper eternal body for him.

I crack open my notes to where I was last night and get to work.

* * *

The sun is just beginning to peek over the horizon when I teleport back to our bedroom. I sigh lightly in relief when I see that Shiny is still asleep where I'd left him. I crawl softly into bed – not an easy task for a mare my size, let me tell you – and tuck myself under the covers. The feeling is simply divine. The sheets are imported Canterlot silk, soft and smooth and oh so comfy. The mattress is soft enough to be mistaken for a cloud, and as a born pegasus I assure you that I know what that feels like. Our bed is cool to my touch, just the way I like it. I snuggle up like a foal and prepare for my short hours of rest.

Then the guilt hits me. Always does whenever I'm enjoying something nice. Shining can't feel this. He hasn't felt the smooth touch of silk on his coat in hundreds of years. He couldn't taste the sweet fruit I snacked on while I worked, not even if I fed it to him like we did on our honeymoon. Even now, the reason the bed is cold is that his body doesn't generate any actual heat, having no need to do so. And why is that? Because Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is a selfish witch who insisted on imprisoning his very soul rather than accepting the inevitable. Because she couldn't be like her aunties who, when the time came, bid the stallions they had loved goodbye and mourned for them, but didn't allow their feelings to turn into obsessive clinging.

I feel like such an awful, self-centered pony. I practically blackmailed Shining Armor into accepting this – demanded he sacrifice everything for all eternity just to please me. I wasn't kidding when I said I was thinking about committing suicide if he died, but now I think that, at least on some subconscious level, I was playing on his good nature. He's always wanted to be the knight in shining armor, to protect the lady fair from the wicked dragon. So I made a dragon for him to save me from, and then insisted he suffer day by day to keep it away from me. What kind of wife _does_ that?

You know the worst part? I haven't changed a bit. No matter what my aunties might say, Princess Cadence hasn't grown past the spoiled, selfish foal that clings to her favorite toy forever. I still, even knowing how much I've hurt him by making him live like this, can't bring myself to let him go. I suppose Chrysalis and I aren't as different as I liked to believe. I feed on another's love to sustain myself just as much as she ever did.

When I turn my head to look at him, tears well up in my eyes. Oh Shining, why couldn't you be the alicorn, and I the statue?

* * *

It's later in the morning. Everypony is up and about again. This time we're attending something of a fair Twilight set up in a field at the edge of the Empire's capital for her World Forum of Peace and Cooperation. She's as darling as she ever was as a filly. I'm glad she's an alicorn now – she's a wonderful addition to the family.

Shiny has duties he has to attend to setting up for events later this evening, so for now it's just me and my pair of guards. Normally I'd walk the Crystal Empire without them, but with so many strangers here Shining insisted. After what I've done to him, how could I say no? Besides, I don't want to be any more of an emotional leech on him than I already am.

Walking between the tents, I spy some of my family among the crowd. I wave and call them over for a little chat, and they happily oblige. There's Diamond Eyes, my great-great-great-granddaughter, by way of my son. She's with her husband Gallium, and their beautiful little filly Snowflake. She's only a few months old, and still being pushed in her stroller. But even she knows enough to squeal happily at the sight of Grandma Cadence. I smile and nuzzle the little one a bit. I've always liked foals, ever since I foalsat as a side job at Auntie Celestia's recommendation. I can clearly remember the names and faces of every generation of my own foals ever since I carried the twins so long ago. That's part of what makes attending their funerals so hard for me.

The conversation I have with my descendants is ordinary and rather trifling, but pleasant. I keep my Serene Alicorn Facetm and enjoy chatting with my family about the same thing for the latest time in a long series of such talks. Really, after you've had the same conversation a dozen times or so, it ceases to be intrinsically meaningful and instead becomes about whatever pony you're spending time with. And I always enjoy seeing my ever-growing family.

Then, all too soon, it's over, and the trio and I go our separate ways. I wish them a happy day and ask that they visit their old fuddy duddy grandparents whenever they can. They agree, and I smile to see them trotting off to enjoy Twilight's fair. Hopefully I'll see them again very soon.

I do my own thing, for the most part. Since Shiny isn't here, I pick up a caramel apple (still a favorite) despite the twinge of guilt it causes, and munch on it as I sit back and relax. There's lots of love and happiness in the air here – I can always feel it – and their joy is my joy. That's part and parcel of being an alicorn, especially the Princess of Love; you feel what the ponies around you feel. It's why I still rule, in spite of all the irritations and distractions it's brought me. I simply trot around, exchanging pleasantries and basking in the warm glow of others' happiness. The only thing that could make this better is if a certain somepony was with me. I'm sure I don't need to tell you who.

It's hours into today's WFPC fair, though for a mare like me such a span passes in a metaphorical eye blink. Judging from the position of Auntie Celestia's sun, I would hazard a guess that we're nearing midday. The carnival is more packed than ever, as the ordinary ponies – or "commoners" as the stuffier nobility might call them – come out to join the delegates. I've had a thoroughly enjoyable morning making small-talk, mingling, and soaking in affection.

"Princess Cadenza?" comes a voice through the crowd. I turn to face it. It's Lady Rose Quartz, though I don't see her son anywhere. She gives me flourishing bow. "Your majesty."

"Oh, there's no need to be so formal. Not here. Just call me Cadence," I answer. I've got an excellent poker face – thanks Auntie – and keep it, but even glutted on happiness as I am I can sense that this is no coincidental meeting. This mare has been seeking me out. Alone. "May I call you Rose?"

"Her majesty may call me what she wishes," she replies, looking up from her bow.

I sigh slightly and resist the urge to roll my eyes. "It's good to see you here. I trust you're enjoying the festivities?" I wave a hoof around at the carnival.

"They have been… delightful, your highness," she says. I can feel the disdain rolling off of her as she lies to my face. It's never pleasant, but I've gotten used to this sort of insincerity. Comes with the job, you know.

"Was there something you wanted?" I ask her in a pleasant tone. I'd rather get this done as quickly as possible and get back to metaphysically stuffing myself with my little ponies' pleasure. She probably wants to lobby me for some pet project or perhaps influence my opinion on some piece of legislation or another. It's a necessary part of governing, but I find it thoroughly tedious.

"You are perceptive as always, majesty." She gives me another bow while I again resist rolling my eyes at the theatrics. Her eyes flick from side to side. "Might we speak somewhere slightly more… private?" she half whispers.

"Very well," I tell her. Again, I honestly just want this over and done with as soon as possible, and appeasing her paranoia seems the easiest way to get that. "Follow me." I lead our little group to something of an alleyway between carnival tents before addressing me guards. "Gentlecolts, if you would kindly ensure our privacy for just a few moments, I'd be very grateful."

The two stallions nod and take up position on either end of the makeshift alley. My horn flickers and we're encased in an invisible bubble. The sound around us disappears. All either of us can hear are each other, now, and nopony else will be able to listen in on what we're saying.

"My thanks for your valuable time, your highness," she says.

"So, how may I help you?" I ask her.

"Your majesty... there have been… whispers… among the nobility."

"There are always whispers among the nobility," I reply drily. "Please, spare us both the pretense and tell me what it is you want."

She swallows. "Of course, your highness." She gives another bow. "It is about your… husband."

About Shiny? What are they saying now? A thousand different possibilities flash through my mind, each worse than the last. I keep my face serene, but wings start to ruffle slightly. The movements are so small that nopony but a pegasus might notice, and Lady Rose, like all crystal ponies, is an earth pony.

"Do go on," I prod her, my tone slightly lower now.

"Some of us… question his continued… suitability for the role."

What?! How dare they?! After all Shining Armor has done for the Crystal Empire, these useless layabouts are calling _his_ suitability into question? My wings twitch a little faster now, my feathers standing on end.

She continues. "In light of his… impairments, some of us feel that it may be time for her highness to… take a new consort. Perhaps one capable of… siring foals?"

My wings burst out into their full glory. There it is. They want me to toss aside Shiny – after everything he's endured for me – like so much worthless garbage and replace him with one of them. I don't doubt that the "good lady" Rose Quartz has a certain stallion in mind, who by some total coincidence is also her bachelor of a son.

I confess: I don't think I've felt such apocalyptic levels of rage towards anypony since the day I first arrived at the Crystal Empire and felt the citizens' collective misery and suffering under Sombra. My inner god-queen, that imperial voice that resides in the hearts of all alicorns, wants me to smite this insolent mortal into dust and ash on the spot for her audacity and call down a curse on her household. I'm seriously tempted. And I could do it too.

Lady Rose Quartz had better thank her lucky stars that Auntie Celestia was such a good tutor. She taught me not to go down that route, warned me of what lay at the end. Sombra. Chrysalis. Nightmare Moon. Discord. Tirek. I don't want to be the next great tyrant of this world, but I swear by the sun and moon and stars that this… _witch_ is making it seem a very attractive proposition.

In the end, I compromise a bit more than I think Celestia would approve of.

"_Leave,_" I hiss between gritted teeth. I can sense her rising panic, the sense that she's stepped too far out of line. She backs away as I take a few steps forward, towering over her. "Leave my presence." The wind picks up, and my eyes start to glow a solid white. "And don't you _ever_ _**dare**_ to say such things in my hearing again, or I swear by all that is holy what I will do to you will make King Sombra look **MERCIFUL!**" The last word I roar in my Royal Canterlot Voice. It's so loud she actually topples over from the sheer volume, the tent flaps around her quaking as if in a strong wind.

She flees as fast as her legs can carry her without another word. A very wise decision.

Some would say I should feel bad for scaring a mare so. But right now, the only thing I really feel bad about is leaving her alive.


	3. Chapter 3

Shining Armor

"Sound system?" I call out from behind my clipboard.

The mare on stage, Stylish Cuff, gives the microphone in front of her a tap with her hoof. "Check!" she says brightly into it. There's a flare of sound from the speakers. The servants and guards around me wince. Some cover their ears. Not me, though. Pain is another sensation that I don't really feel. Would you believe I miss it?

_This isn't hearing._ The voice reminds me. As if I needed that.

"You might want to adjust that a bit," I observe. Stylish blushes slight, and scurries off backstage to fiddle with the equipment. I go on to the next item on the list. "Seating numbered?"

"Rows 1 to 15, check!" says Ivory… something. Sorry, among the hundreds of ponies I deal with on a semi-regular basis, she hasn't exactly distinguished herself in my head.

"Rows 16 to 30, check!" quips a purple stallion whose name I confess I haven't acquired at all. He's a temporary hire for the event, I think.

"Rows 31 to 45, check!" answers the final member of the intrepid trio of ponies tasked with making sure all the seats have been conveniently numbered for the benefit of our visitors, Penned Iridescence. She, at least, I can remember, having been a member of the palace staff for at least a decade.

I check that item off my clipboard after a brief personal sweep over the long rows. "Good work, ponies. We're a little ahead of schedule. If you wouldn't mind, I hear Violet Blossom could use a bit of extra help with the refreshments…"

The trio groan a little at the prospect of helping our infamous perfectionist of a chef, but they do as bid.

Does this sound like a really petty task for a prince to be doing? Does it sound like I could delegate this to an assistant, like Autumn Sun? That would probably be because it is, and I could. But if I did, I wouldn't have any excuse to not be attending Twily's little carnival with Cadence.

Don't get me wrong, I love my LSBFF, and I want her to be happy. That's exactly why I can't go. Carnivals just make me uncomfortable, with their food I can't taste, rides I can't feel, and shows that just make me feel more out of place. There's only so much playacting I can manage in a day. Faking just isn't in my nature, even with all my practice. I don't know if I could avoid revealing a sour, somewhat jealous mood and bringing little Twily down on what's supposed to be a happy occasion. Here, at least, I can act bored and grumpy and nopony questions it.

Fortunately for me, Twily hasn't changed so much since becoming an alicorn that she doesn't still obsess over every detail of an event going right. She personally inspected the details of the setup of the carnival all of last night, forgoing almost all sleep for it. When a pony's dealing with her, a desire to personally make sure that your opening speeches go just perfectly is an utterly plausible excuse. I'll make it up to her, though, I promise. I've got a little free time this afternoon, and she and I are going to go fly a kite together. Just brother and sister, doing something we've done since she was a filly and I taught her for the first time. That, at least, I can still enjoy.

When I take a look, Stylish is back on stage, fidgeting slightly but otherwise dutifully awaiting her turn. I choose not to keeping her waiting. "Sound system?" I call out a second time.

She hesitates for half a second before tapping the microphone again. "Check," she answers. This time there's no screeching noise. Good. The last thing I need is ambassadors stumbling out the door with their ears bleeding.

I check that item off my list of preparations. Okay, I'm almost through here, I just need to inspect the cuisine and then-

"Shining Armor?" a familiar voice interrupts my thoughts.

I turn to face the direction it's coming from. "Princess Celestia."

Grand. Just the pony I don't need right now. Not that I've got anything against my adopted relation, but she has a way of getting to a pony when he just wants some time alone.

"There's no need to be formal with me," she says, the ever-present calm smile dominating her features. She takes a couple of steps down the stairs and into my converted auditorium. "I've told you before, you can call me Auntie. Or Celestia, if you prefer."

I sigh – a remarkable feat without lungs – and pointedly look at the clipboard held in my magic aura. "Auntie, I'm a little busy right now." I wave a hoof at my surroundings.

She continues walking towards me, raising a knowing eyebrow. "Indeed?"

Celestia is always a tough one to lie to. I guess all those millennia dealing with courtiers and nobility and ambassadors have given her experience. Or maybe the rumors about her being able to read a pony's mind are true after all.

"Shouldn't you be at Twily's carnival?" I ask.

"Now, now, is that any way to greet a friend?"

"It's a valid question."

"I saw my niece there without my nephew and decided come looking for him. Is that wrong?"

I look up from my clipboard when the hoofsteps stop. Those long alicorn legs of hers took Celestia across the room to me a lot quicker than I anticipated. I really should be used to that by now.

"What do you want, Celestia?" I cut right to the chase. Is it rude? Probably. Ungrateful for all she's done for me? Definitely. Drill Sergeant Iron Hoof would have me doing dozens of pushups in the pouring rain for that. But he's centuries dead, and I'm really not in the mood for this. I'll probably need to apologize later.

Her smile fades from her face. "I wanted to take a little walk around the gardens with my nephew. Would you kindly spare a few minutes from your busy schedule to come with this old mare?"

"Celestia, I'm a little busy right now…"

"Please? I'm sure your wonderful staff can manage itself for a brief while." She gives me a look. It's… hard to describe. Not commanding, but not pleading either. "Kindly inviting" might be my best way of putting it. I find it difficult to resist, and she knows it.

I sight again. "Alright. You win."

She gives me a little hug with one long leg and smiles again. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

I call over Autumn Sun, a long-time aide of mine. She's always useful for mundane tasks like this, and more importantly, from my perspective, is a model of discretion. If anypony who doesn't need to know asks where I went, she'll give them a non-answer and then shoo them away. She nods at my instructions while Celestia waits patiently in the background. At last, I plant my clipboard in her hoof.

Celestia graces me with another of her smiles as we walk up the stairs and out of the auditorium together. She has this remarkable ability to slow down for a smaller pony without looking like she's doing anything out of the ordinary. Her legs alone are almost as tall as I am – and I'm no small stallion myself – but I can't say they're moving any slower than mine. And yet she doesn't pull ahead of me.

We walk in silence for a time, accepting the salutes of guards and the hurried bows and curtsies of servants without a word. Celestia smiles benevolently down on everypony we pass, while I keep my face blank. Most ponies prefer it that way, I've found. Few truly enjoy being smiled at by what many consider a necromantic freak of a pony, even when he's with the sun goddess herself

Eventually, we slip into the greenhouse gardens Cadence had planted all those years ago. It's quite hot and humid in here at this time of year, and so few ponies honestly want to stay long. That makes it a good place to have a private conversation, if you care to endure the stuffiness. Celestia is the ruler of the sun and I lack feeling altogether, so we aren't deterred. To my annoyance, the water in the air starts condensing on my polished body almost immediately.

"Shining Armor," says Celestia when we're a good ways in, out of earshot of anypony. I notice her horn flare briefly, and a quick look into the Aether confirms she's surrounded us with a magical bubble. Silencing us, no doubt. "Tell me, how are you?"

"I'm doing alright," I reply, noncommittally.

Celestia sighs and looks down at me. Her eyes have a pitying expression in them. "I can no longer order you to do anything, but as a family member and a friend, I ask you to please not lie to me."

I avert my eyes. "I'm not lying," I answer, slightly more hastily than I intended. "I'm fine."

"Very well. Lie to me if you feel that you must, but at least be honest inside your own head, alright?"

"I'm not lying," I repeat, this time with a twinge of irritation in my voice. I don't like ponies challenging my honor, not even alicorn sun goddesses.

"Shining Armor, anypony who pays even a small amount of attention to you can see that you are not "alright", as you insist."

I can feel the frustration rising inside my head, but I work to keep my tone level. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I was attending the feast last night, if you recall. Not far from where you sat. I saw you there. You kept staring at the empty plate in front of you. More than a dozen times my eyes caught you staring at other ponies' plates and licking your lips."

"You were spying on me?!" I snap, my voice harsh. I don't like underhoofed games.

"I glanced at you from time to time, no more. You simply did it quite a lot."

"You're lying." I growl at her.

Is she playing at this again? Wouldn't be the first time. She never agreed with my decision to embrace this new body.

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"You feel free to get quite liberal with the truth when you think it serves the "greater good". Do I need to remind you about Nightmare Moon? How nopony knew about Discord's era for hundreds of years because you hid it?"

"Shining…" she shakes her head. "I'm concerned for you. This isn't healthy, for you or Cadence-"

"DON"T!" I smash a hoof into the floor, cracking the crystalline tile. "Don't you bring her into this! This was _my_ decision, and _I_ will live with the consequences!" I bash the floor again for emphasis. Little pieces of tile clatter off my chest.

_This isn't feeling._

Celestia blinks and her eyes widen for a fraction of a second, before they resume that sorrowful look. I hate that, you know. I'm a stallion grown, not some little stray colt in need of mommy's guidance. I don't like it when Cadence reduces herself for my sake, and I don't like it when another pony insists on babying me. I'll decide what's healthy for me and what's not, not some distant sun deity.

"Shining," she starts again, "You are not alright, you are suffering. And my niece suffers with you. You cannot just continue to-"

"Yes. I. _Can!_" I'm half screaming at this point. "Who in Tartarus died and made you Princess of Relationship Advice?! I will _not_ abandon my wife! I will _**never**_ abandon her!"

"It is not abandonment! It is accepting the natural order of things! It is letting go!"

There it is. Out in the open. She wants me to die and fade away, leaving my shattered wife behind to commit suicide or worse. How can she ask me to destroy the pony I love most?!

"Like _you_ let go of Luna?"

That does it. Her eyes go wide, and I think I see a tear somewhere in them. Good. She's trying to get my Cadence killed, she should suffer for it.

Celestia closes her eyes for a moment, and a hooful of tears drip down her cheeks. "Yes, Shining Armor. Like I let go of my sister."

"You liar," I snarl. "You didn't let go. Your sister is immortal, like you! How the hell would you know _anything_ about dying and leaving somepony behind?!"

"I banished my sister to the moon for a thousand years, Shining Armor. Do you have _any_ idea how-"

"So the buck what?!" I cut her off. "A thousand years?! You're an _alicorn_! A _goddess_! You don't have to worry about dying and leaving the pony you care for behind to mourn! A thousand years is _nothing_ compared to what you're demanding Cadence suffer so that your precious "natural order" is followed!"

Celestia's left eyelid twitches. Ooooh, I think I've got her mad now.

"_Nothing?! __**NOTHING?!**_" she breaks out the Royal Canterlot Voice. "**YOU IGNORANT LITTLE FOAL! DO YOU HAVE THE **_**SLIGHTEST**_ **CONCEPTION OF – AH!**"

Sorry, Celestia, that fancy vocal trick of yours might work on the lesser ponies you're used to looking down on, but Shining Armor is made of sterner stuff. I've faced down King Sombra personally to protect the ponies I love, and I'll face down you for the same reason.

Or, in this instance, I'll shut you up. By tossing a flower pot at your head.

The artistically carved vase of crystal shatters against the alicorn's oversized head. It doesn't break skin, of course – Celestia's kind are far too tough for that – but it covers that pretty little alabaster coat of hers in black soil. A half-grown mint plant slides off her royal highness's pretty face, which stares at me in open-mouthed shock.

Before she can say another word, I teleport myself out of there. I don't need any more of this.

* * *

I reappear in the same auditorium where I had been working before. I spot Autumn Sun quickly enough.

"Your highness?" she asks when I tap her on the shoulder. She looks around, then back to me. "Where is the princess?"

"Kindly inform the guards that Princess Celestia is no longer permitted into rooms in which I am working."

She blinks, her jaw dropping a bit. "My Prince?"

"Well?"

Like the good assistant she is, Autumn Sun collects herself. "Yes. As you wish, sire." She gives a quick bow and hurries to do as instructed.


	4. Chapter 4

Cadence

After my little "chat" with Lady Rose Quartz, I find I'm in too foul a mood to continue my carnival tour. Alicorn empathy, you see, is a two-way street, especially for yours truly. I'm affected by the moods of those ponies (and zebras, and gryphons, and diamond dogs, and minotaurs, and…) that are around me, but by the same token especially strong moods in me can affect the collective mood of those around me. The magical radiance of the Crystal Heart only adds to the effect. Most of the time, this is simply a harmless positive feedback loop: they're happy, which makes me happy, which makes them happy, which makes me happy, etc.

The downside is that, when I'm, say, in a towering rage, or simply sulking, I actively make other ponies feel worse by my mere presence. Even in a bad frame of mind, I don't want to hurt other ponies (well, _most_ other ponies), and I certainly don't wish to spoil Twilight's event or inadvertently cause some international incident. I give my thanks to my fellow princess and make some excuses about not feeling well (technically true) before heading out. I notice Auntie Luna engaged in a beanbag throwing contest with some of the delegates from Minotauria, but I don't see Auntie Celestia anywhere. Odd, she loves this sort of informal event.

I hope nothing's the matter with her.

* * *

I dismiss my guards once we've safely made it back to the palace. Now I've got a bit of time before I have to be anywhere again – rare enough these days. I could go and relax somewhere or even try for a nap, but I have far more important things to do. I enter our chambers, lock the door behind me, and promptly teleport down to my laboratory. If there's time to be spent, I might as well put it to good use.

I peer down through my microscope at the blood sample, scratch a few observations onto my notepad, and set it aside. Next I look through a second microscope at another blood sample, write down more observations, and move on to the next one. I repeat the process four times in total - one blood sample (of the same blood type) from each race of pony: earth pony, pegasus, unicorn, and alicorn.

I look down at my notes. The pen I'm holding snaps in half.

I repeat the experiment a total of ten times, using ten different blood samples from ten different ponies. Well, except the alicorn sample, obviously. I only know four of those, and of them I have access to only one regular supply of blood. The results are the same each time.

Mental note: I need more pens.

The same. They're all the motherbucking same. I can't find any innate differences between the lot. The same thing my earlier chemical and magical analyses suggested.

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!"

I pound the floor in frustration. My hoof hits it hard enough to send small chips of crystal and stone spinning in all directions and rattle the furniture around me. I don't care, so I do it again. There's a pretty deep imprint on the stone floor, and one of my bookshelves comes perilously close to falling over. I should probably stop now.

I toss my notes aside and collapse backwards onto the wall. What _is_ it?! What's the secret?! Why can't I motherbucking find it anywhere I look?! I _am_ an alicorn, you'd think I'd have some sort of innate mystical insight into this sort of thing. You would also be totally wrong. I need to know: in real, scientific, non-allegorical terms, what is the difference between the mortal and immortal subspecies of pony? Or, to put it in laypony's terms: what is it that makes a mortal pony into an alicorn?

That's the secret I need, I just know it. If I can find what the difference is that causes us alicorns to live forever, I can craft a new body for Shining that will never sicken, weaken, or rot away with age. Then he won't have to suffer anymore, and we can be a proper husband and wife again! If only I'd had the bright idea to do this testing before I or Twilight ascended! I pound the floor yet again and seethe at my lack of foresight. I'm sure if I could have studied unicorn Twilight and alicorn Twilight, or even pegasus me and alicorn me, side-by-side I'd have been able to figure it out.

I check the time out of the corner of my eye. Damn and blast! Tartarus' gates! I've only got twelve more minutes before I'll need to head to another inane event whose importance pales next to the task I'm attempting. I get back to my hooves. I don't have the time to perform a proper experiment before leaving – but I can at least check up on those cultured cell samples I'm growing.

Hang on, Shiny. I'll get you out of there yet, one way or another.

So swears Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

* * *

Shining Armor

"Come on, BBBFF!" giggles Twily. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to catch me!" She briefly pauses to wiggle her rump at me before taking off again, still giggling.

I give an exaggerated maniacal laugh. "Oh, you won't get away from me, you little kite thief! Come here!"

Twily and I are playing a game we made up when she was a little filly: kite thief. She steals my kite from me however she can, and then I have to run her down and grab her to retrieve it. She has it soaring above her head as she bolts this way and that through the fields that surround the Crystal Empire's heart in the middle of summer.

Is this a bit of a foalish pastime for siblings that are centuries old and weighted down with the responsibilities of rulership to indulge in? Probably. Does that mean we're going to stop? Buck you, no. I have to deal with serious and important issues that come with co-ruling a country every single day of my life. As a princess of Equestria, Twilight is in the same boat as me. But how often do I get to chase my giant alicorn sister around like she was a tiny unicorn filly hopping about my hooves again?

Not often enough is my answer.

Some ponies would say that such behavior is improper from a prince and princess of our venerable age. They would argue that it is our responsibility to model upright and socially correct behavior at all times, even in our recreational activities. To them, I say: stick it up your hindquarters and smoke it, you sad old fops; I'm having fun with my baby sister.

Eventually, Twily makes the mistake of running around, rather than over, one of the rolling hills in these grasslands. I grin and run right up to the top, then leap off to catch Twily in a flying tackle. We end up in a tangled mess of limbs, manes, tales, and kite string, laughing like madponies.

I haven't had so much fun in a long time.

* * *

Fun fact: it is rather awkward to sit right near a sun goddess whom, a couple of hours ago, you insulted and smashed with a flower pot. Can make a stallion feel somewhat put out. More so than usual, I mean.

We're in the auditorium I spent so much time setting up, listening to an elderly gryphon delegate speak, at length, of the peaceful and beneficent desires of his nation. I don't believe a word of what I hear, which I think is less than one in ten of the words he's actually saying. I'm much more concentrated on the ponies around me.

Celestia, Luna, Twily, Cadence, and I are in a special, reserved section near the front. The view is good, the acoustics are superb, and the show is boring. I've heard it all before. But now that I've heard what Celestia did at the opening feast, I'm determined to catch her spying on me here. I've seen those purple eyes wander over to "check on" me more than the hoofull of times she implied earlier. That she does it with her face pointed duly forward and that perpetual serene smile on her face just confirms my suspicions as to how practiced she is at this sort of thing.

Cadence doesn't know about what happened between us earlier today – this is an issue between me and the sun goddess, and I'd prefer to keep it that way. Matters of honor are best settled between two competitors, after all. Fortunately for me, it seems that we actually agree on something, as Luna doesn't know that I insulted and smacked her sister with a plant either. I know that because she isn't blasting me with the Royal Canterlot Voice (and possibly much more than that).

Never was one for indirect action, our Princess Luna.

My other stroke of good fortune is that I'm seated directly between Twily, whom I'm reasonably confident would defend me – her mentor don't need no protection from me, after all – and Cadence, whom I am sure would. An alicorn shield between myself and "dear Auntie" is just what the doctor ordered, I think. Public fighting between such long-time allies as Equestria and the Crystal Empire would hardly be a fitting sight at an event like the World Forum of Peace and Cooperation. As they say, most of politics is perception and for a ruler, the personal is the political.

* * *

Cadence

"And in conclusion, his majesty Emperor Serath the Fifteenth, Son of Emperor Clawdius the Fourth, King of the Mountain Eyries, Duke of the Frozen Stormlands, Warlord of the Talon Flight, Conqueror of the Blighted Marsh, Master of Winds, Shaker of the Earth, Slayer of the Bandit King, Devourer of Hydras, Crusher of Foes, Patron of Friends, Ruler of the Sea of Sardassa, Warden of the Northern Wastes, and Emperor of the Gryphus Empire send unto all nations his most profound and sincere regrets that he was unable to attend this worthy event in person, most profusely thanks our gracious and benevolent hosts for their hospitality, and desires most eagerly that all nations should come together in peace, in tolerance, in respect, in friendship, and in brotherhood. Thank you." The gryphon on stages holds his position while audience – at least the part of it that's still awake – stamps politely for his speech.

It's the last one of the evening, and thank goodness for that. Even my poise was starting to wear thin. I was worried I might start fidgeting in the middle of the speech for a while there. And while I do sincerely appreciate Emperor Serath's reformations and his apparently genuine determination to break from the policies of his warmongering predecessors, I do wish he could have found a delegate that did not insist on ceremonially listing all of his titles every single time his name was mentioned in any context. All fifty-eight times.

I think my eyelid just twitched.

It is not that I don't enjoy speeches on certain themes, but I confess I would rather have cast an illusion to sit in my chair and spent the time working in my lab. If I thought I stood a chance of getting away with it, I probably would have. I have no interest in conquest or violence, and I don't need to listen to a meandering speech from an excessively-wordy gryphon to know the value of friendship, love, and tolerance. But being a princess comes with responsibilities to represent one's empire at such conferences, and to do so with such dignity and good grace as befits such a lofty position. That's what Auntie Celestia always taught me.

I stick close to Shiny as the crowd around us slowly files out of our auditorium, down the hallway, and out the doors to our waiting tables. There's just tonight's dinner left now, then we'll be done for the day and I can get back to work. Some ponies stop to have chats on the sides of the hall. The line is briefly held back when a Saddle Arabian prince consort and a zebra delegate have to be pulled apart by our guards. As we walk along with the crowd I spy not a few nobles from the Crystal Empire taking advantage of the moment to have side conversations where the noise of the crowd will cover their own words.

Note to self: investigate these "whispers". Who's speaking out against Shiny? That's not a crime (unless it escalates to threats, in which case it is) but I want to know who my prospective opposition consists of. And, just in case, who to go to first if there's an assassination attempt. I don't think anypony in my nobility is that stupid, but for Shining's safety better to be over-prepared than under.

I nod as I see nobles go by. There's Lord Agate and Lady Garnet, talking with a minotaur… Lady Amber having a chat with Lady Opal and Lord Onyx… Countess Kyanite and Lady Turquoise… Lord Larimar and a zebra… Lady Shining Sunstone (yes, it can be a mare's name too) talking to Lady Moonstone… Lord Diaspore with Lady Crystal Gaze… Noticing a pattern with these?

Yeah, the ponies of the Crystal Empire still love their mineral-based names.

I frown as I see somepony else up ahead having a talk. Lady Rose Quartz. I didn't think she'd have the guts to show her face in polite society for at least a few days after this morning. I appear to have underestimated her. And who's that she's conversing with? One of her whisperers? Could be a useful hint. I try and get a good look. If this minotaur would kindly stop blocking my line of sight…

Oh, it's just Auntie Celestia. Nevermind then.

* * *

Dinner goes… well, as well as a meal where neither of us eats can go. I'm happy that everypony else seems to be enjoying the food better than the speeches, but I can feel the desire positively oozing off of Shiny. Poor stallion, it must be so frustrating to have to watch and remember but be totally unable to touch. A twinge of guilt hits me when I remember just who made him be this way and why. I stroke his back with my wing in hopes of giving him something else to think about while silently redoubling my vows to get him out of there as soon as possible.

I take an opportunity near the end of the meal to slip away from the table for a minute. I have some orders to give. It takes me some small amount of time to find one of the ponies I'm looking for, but at last my eyes settle on Feldspar. To the public eye, he's just an unremarkable mid-ranking member of the palace kitchen staff. Off the record, I pay him and an assorted network of servants to report certain interesting details from their masters' households. Damned useful for political purposes.

I cast a quick silencer over us. A princess lingering too long in public with a mere servant would be odd, but my eating habits are known to be… eccentric, so nopony should ask too many questions if I do this quickly.

I don't bother with preamble. "Tell them to listen for anything about Shining Armor. I want names, dates, places, what's said – anything you can get me on what the word is among the nobility."

"Should I ask why?"

"Not really."

"As you say, princess."


	5. Chapter 5

Cadence

My hooves trot delicately over the tile floor. I'm shorn of my usual regalia, without even my casual crown on my head or horseshoes to protect my hooves. My body is little more than a vague shimmer in the air to even the keenest eyes, and my hoofsteps are silent as the grave.

Heh. Appropriate comparison, considering where I'm breaking into.

The School of Medicine at the Crystal Empire's Sir Spike the Brave and Glorious University isn't the best in the world. I'm not afraid to admit it – Auntie Celestia always said that a good ruler is honest with herself about her country's comparative strengths and weaknesses. I'm not even sure if it's the best medical school in the Crystal Empire. But, right now, it has just the thing I need: dead bodies.

No, not like that! I'm not going to eat them or… EW! Get your mind out of the gutter!

I must admit that my experimentation isn't going as well as I'd hoped for. I've considered bringing Twilight into it, but… The poor dear isn't much more socially adept than she ever was. She doesn't quite grasp the way that Shiny's suffering in the way I do. She might not be willing to make the same ethical compromises that I am. She might even freak out at me and go running to my aunties. I don't think they'd like it if they knew that I'm trying to artificially create a soulless alicorn body and put another pony's soul into it. They might try to stop me. But when I succeed, they won't have any choice but to acquiesce to it. So bringing her in to help me will have to be a last resort plan.

I never thought I'd wish Discord back early from that extraplanar jaunt he went on, but I could use his help right now. He's loaded with magical knowledge and power, and not so squeamish as Twilight. He'd probably do it too, just to see the rise it got out of Auntie Celestia. The inevitable centuries of taunting I'd have to endure from him about the "pretty pink perfect pony princess going all goth on us" would be a small price to pay to have Shining back, in the flesh…

My thoughts are interrupted by the sounds of hoofsteps on tile. I freeze where I am, terrified somepony will see through my spells, though rational me says that isn't likely. I'm quite good at perception-influencing magic.

A unicorn stallion in a security guard's shirt walks around the corner, his horn casting a simple cantrip to illuminate the darkened halls of the university. The light sweeps over me, and my instinctive brain wants to panic, but I clamp down hard on it. He can't see me, I know it… I'm right. He walks right past me without a pause or a sideways glance.

I release a breath I didn't realize I was holding before deciding what to do next. Even if he missed me this time, I'd rather not take even the smallest of chances with this sort of thing. How would it look to the ponies of the Crystal Empire if their princess was caught stealing bodies donated to science, especially shorn of context? I really don't need a political scandal on my hooves.

My horn glows, and I reach out with a spell to lightly touch the stallion's mind…

"Aren't you feeling just a little bit tired?" my voice, barely more than a whisper, wafts over to him like a gentle breeze.

He freezes where he is, and for a split second I wonder if I'll need a more potent charm, but then he nods his head, slowly but surely. "Yeah. I'm feeling kinda tired right now."

"You're a hard worker, aren't you?"

"I'm a hard worker."

"It's two in the morning. All reasonable ponies are asleep at this hour, right?"

"Right. Everypony's asleep right now. 'Cept me." The last sentence bears a trace of resentment. Good. It's working.

"You deserve a nap, don't you?" I gently prod him.

He nods, more enthusiastically this time. "Yeah, I deserve a nap."

"Do you think you should go and take one then?"

"Yeah! I should go take a nap. Who gives a flying buck about this creepy old building anyway?"

My inner refined high society mare winces at his swear, but my spell seems to have worked to perfection. He trots off to find some place to sleep, and he won't remember that it was anypony's idea but his own. I hope he doesn't get in trouble with his bosses for this, but sometimes risks have to be taken. I can't do much to help him if he does - the princess can hardly intervene in some no name security guard's disciplinary hearing in the middle of an international summit without raising some suspicious eyebrows. If worst comes to worst I vow I'll hire him on myself. We always have some positions that need filling. 'Tis simply a fact of life when you employ thousands of ponies at all times.

With the obstacle dealt with, I trot down the rest of the corridor and take a right, where the guard had come from. A thick steel door marked "Authorized Personnel Only" tells me I'm in the right place. The vault door in front of me opens easily to a simple spell, letting out a waft of cold, smelly air.

Inside the frozen room are two dozen cadavers, laced with magic and pungent chemical preservatives to ensure freshness. These ponies donated their bodies to science before passing away, so that makes what I'm about to do somewhat less bad, right? It's not exactly what they had in mind, but they are helping to advance the cause of medicine in their own way. I don't want to rob a funeral home, and I certainly would never kill a pony for their body, but I need to try a different angle on my experiments.

I delicately float a pair of unicorn bodies – a mare and a stallion – off the tables where they rest. With a flash, they vanish back to my prepared spaces. I clean the space as best I can, so it looks like nopony was ever there. I close the vault door behind me and lock it again before I teleport myself back to my lab.

Teleportation is an imprecise art, especially if a pony is moving herself or objects some distance. To compensate, I have some runic circles set up to act as beacons for me. I'm pleased to see that both of my stolen cadavers have made it back intact. I try and stay focused on my feelings of success rather than on the wave of guilt that comes crashing down on my conscience. Look at me now, world. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, grave robber. Wouldn't Mom and Dad be so very proud of their little filly?

More guilt is the last thing I need, but if it's for Shining then I'll bear the burden. It's not as though I don't deserve every last bit of it.

When I'm done with these bodies, I swear to myself, I'll cremate them myself and return the ashes to the families, per university policy. Hopefully, between the alterations to the records I've already done and the apparent following of standard procedure, nopony will notice anything happened. I just have to hope nopony has paid too great an attention to the exact number of bodies they have, or comes in asking about the body of their relation.

But even on the off chance that they do notice, who would think to suspect the princess?

Focus, Cadence. There's a time limit on this. You need to be back up in bed with Shiny before five thirty, or six at the very latest. Time to try something new.

With my efforts to figure out what makes an alicorn out of a regular pony stalling, I'm going to approach the problem from a different angle: bringing a dead body back to life.

No, not like you're thinking. Resurrection – true resurrection, the reuniting of the body and a soul passed on to the afterlife – is utterly impossible. Even for alicorns. Not even Discord is capable of that. But the body, I know, can live on without the soul. For a time, at least; without a soul the body is a hollow shell with no motivation and no ability to perform any tasks. A soulless body is essentially a brain dead coma patient on life support with no hope of recovery.

Unless, of course, somepony inserts a soul.

I don't need to waste my strength on a futile quest to reach beyond the veil of death to pull Shining's soul back. It's still with me, right where I want it. All I have to do is repair the damage that caused bodily death in the first place, and then give the biological systems a restart. A tall order, but I think I might be able to manage it after some practice.

These are uncharted magical waters, as far as I know. Nopony that I can find record of has ever tried to restore life this way. Many have tried to pull back the souls of dead loved ones through magical might and perished in the attempt. The ignorant would call what I'm going to try necromancy, but anypony educated in the magical arts knows that that vile discipline is simply about animating corpses as puppets, not restoring them to life. My aim is not to produce a zombie.

But this is ultimately a half-measure, at best. Nothing more than a stopgap. Any ordinary corpse I could revive would eventually age and die again, eventually decaying to a point where I couldn't force its systems back into life. Not to mention it would foist off all the deceased's medical problems on Shiny. I would have to rotate his soul between bodies fairly regularly, and that would be tremendously hard on him. The one and only time Twilight and I moved his soul from his original body to the golem we made, it took him weeks to be able to function out of bed. It simply wouldn't do to ask that of him again.

But if I can learn how to force a corpse back to life… My eyes wander to the alicorn skeleton. It's only part of a corpse, and by all accounts it was a female, but maybe… just maybe…

I shake my head and get to work.

* * *

I reappear in our bedchamber just as the first tinges of orange glow are beginning to appear outside the eastern window. My first attempts at bringing back life could have gone better, but I wasn't expecting miracles on the first try. At least I still have fairly intact bodies to work with.

It brings a smile to my face to see Shining asleep, right where I left him. I re-cast my silencing spell and walk carefully over the carpeted floor before slipping back into bed. I snuggle myself up underneath the covers. Like always, our bed feels wonderful.

And I feel like shit.

Sorry. Was that a rude way of putting it? Probably. But I can't really help it. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, mares and gentlecolts: neglects her kingdom for weeks on end to watch her husband die, emotionally blackmails him into accepting an eternity in a rock, accomplishes the deed with spells cribbed from dark magic, denies a body last rites because she might need it, lies to her husband and sister-in-law and aunties, and now steals bodies in the dead of night to experiment on. And all that because she's too selfish to let her very special somepony go.

And just to make everything worse: I know all of this. I know that all that I've been doing is wrong, and I rationally, consciously choose to continue down the path anyway. Where will it take me before I manage to achieve my goal? What depths will I willingly sink to in order to craft an ageless body for my husband? I simply can't answer that, because I don't know. And yet, knowing what I do, I'm completely convinced that it will all be worth it, in the end. What does that say about me, as a pony and a princess?

You know, life isn't fair. I deserve to be the statue, not Shining.

* * *

AN: Hi all you readers out there. I'd appreciate it if you'd take a few moments to leave me a little feedback, good or bad, to tell me how I'm doing. Thanks.


	6. Chapter 6

Cadence

Shining and I are alone in our quarters. We have a little bit of time to ourselves between some of today's events, which is always appreciated. But today's time off is even better: one of our little foals is coming to visit. Diamond Eyes, our great-great-great-granddaughter, her husband Gallium, and their first filly, our great-great-great-great-granddaughter, Snowflake. It always warms my heart when our dear grandchildren come to visit, and I know it's one of the things Shiny likes best as well.

While we patiently await our coming relations, I choose to take the chance to snuggle up to him, just like old times. I have to bend down a bit – stupid alicorn biology making me super-sized – but I get my head up against his neck and wrap my body around his. He looks down at me and smiles, and I can feel a bit of genuine happiness poking out of his usual emotional blend of stoic duty, tightly-wound pride, and repressed depression. It's a simple thing, no more complicated than a little foal's joy when running through a sunlit field, but that's more than enough to make me happy. I nuzzle the side of his neck and face, planting a few light kisses. My long, flowing, ethereal mane makes itself useful and wraps around his neck like a scarf.

He chuckles, and I can feel the warmth coming from inside. He bends over to kiss me on the muzzle, then runs his hoof through my mane. Mmmmmm… I've always liked that. Our lips meet and then lock. My mane continues to wrap itself around his neck and face, and he keeps playing with it with that glassy hoof of his. Mmmmmmm… Ye gods, this feels wonderful. I can sense the warm, caring, protective feelings just oozing out of my stallion, and it makes me want to just lie down in his hooves and not move for hours.

This whole scene is making me feel great, and, if I'm honest, a little bit raunchy. For all that I'm a walking demigod, I'm still a mare, after all. But I'm not going to spoil this by reminding him of his body's limits, and I'm certainly not going to try and get him to indulge me when I can't reciprocate. I have plenty of practice repressing my hormones, and so I just keep planting kisses and nuzzling him fondly.

We're on the carpeted floor now. I didn't notice us getting down off our hooves, but I don't give a flip. I'm flat on my stomach; he's on his legs. That's no accident – I'm like most mares in that I like to look up at my stallion during our intimate moments. Unfortunately, part of being an alicorn princess my age is that you look down on any stallion not afflicted with gigantism. Ah well, something to correct when I finally create that new body.

A soft knock on the door interrupts our reverie.

"Ahem… your majesties?" comes a light voice. I recognize one of our attendants, Gentle Breeze. "Your guests have arrived."

I get to my hooves, thankful not for the first time for the pink color of my coat. That means only somepony exceptionally keen-eyed or very familiar with reading me would notice the warmth I can feel in my cheeks. From the emotions I'm picking up from Shiny as he hastily regains his own hooves, I get the feeling he'd be in the same boat if that accursed crystal prison had any blood with which to blush. He still has that adorable awkward streak to him every once in a while.

Still, Shiny recovers before I do. "See them in, please. Then you may do as you please until two o'clock this afternoon."

"Yes, my Prince," says Gentle Breeze as she scurries off to get our grandfoals.

I put a hoof around my husband's shoulders and just relish the positive feelings coming out of his brain. He smiles up at me. I smile back. Nothing really needs to be said.

It takes about a minute and a half for Gentle Breeze to lead our relatives through the small maze of crystalline corridors that lead to our chambers, but eventually the door opens. In comes our unicorn granddaughter, her crystal pony husband, and their tiny filly in her little stroller. Gentle Breeze discretely closes the door behind them and vanishes, leaving us alone to catch up with our descendants.

Husband and wife look uneasily at each other, uncertain what protocol is when meeting ponies who are at the same time your rulers and your distant ancestors. I'm almost tempted to giggle a bit at their shyness. Didn't we just have a lovely chat the other day? Honestly, just because Shiny and I are a golem and an alicorn, respectively, doesn't mean we aren't also their proud family.

"Well, what are you ponies waiting for?" I take the initiative, spreading my hooves wide. "Come give your old grandma Cadence a hug!"

That does it. Diamond Eyes, no doubt recalling all the hugs I gave her during foalhood, is first. She wraps her hooves around me, and I plant a kiss on her forehead. She giggles. Gallium joins us, finding ample room in my oversized legs for another pony to slip into my hug. At least they're good for something. I pull Shiny in with telekinesis, and we have a big group hug. It really does make me smile.

Eventually, all things must end, and that includes family hugs. I reluctantly release my husband and grandfoals, though not before planting far more kisses than would be considered properly dignified on the latter pair.

"Grandma!" Diamond Eyes giggles, looking up at me with those beautiful blue orbs she was named for. "We're not five! You don't need to smother us."

"Oh, you're all five to me," I grin with faux menace. "And besides, princesses get to give their grandfoals however many kisses they want. That's the law."

"No it isn't," my granddaughter tries to defend herself. Too bad for her.

"It is now," I laugh. "Shining, would you kindly instruct our scribes to draw up a law permitting an unlimited number of kisses from royalty?"

"As you command, your highness." He mock salutes me. "Shall I run it by the council, or would you prefer not to bother?"

I grin and shake my head. "Of course not!"

He smirks back at me. "So the princess wills it, so it shall be!"

Gallium falls to his knees and looks up at me with pleading eyes. "Please spare this humble pony, your dread majesty!"

I cackle manically. "Never!" I pluck my grandson-in-law up with my magic and give him a long kiss on his forehead before setting him back on his hooves. We all share a chuckle, the mood now considerably lighter.

A small whimper from the stroller reminds us of the room's final and youngest occupant.

Diamond Eyes and Gallium rush over to check on little Snowflake, the former reaching her head in to nuzzle the filly. Shiny and I, smiles on our faces, tiptoe softly across the carpeted floor to sneak a peek at the little one. I saw her the other day, but Shining hasn't seen her since the day she was born, some seven months ago now.

Snowflake, despite her name, does not share her mother's white coat (which I suspect comes from Shining's genes), but instead her father's silvery, almost metallic one. But she does have Diamond Eyes' deep brown mane, and she is a unicorn. Twilight's scientific studies of House Blueblood, our foals, and her own have shown that while the alicorn trait itself is totally recessive, its presence in a foal almost guarantees that they will be born a unicorn, no matter the pony subspecies of the other partner. The one exception is the mating of an alicorn stallion and alicorn mare, which invariably produces alicorn offspring; Auntie Celestia and Auntie Luna being the two most prominent examples thereof.

I wonder: when I get Shiny a new body and we… do it, does that mean all our new children will be alicorns? What will that mean for the rest of the family? Ah well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

"Shhh… Shhhh…" Diamond Eyes tries to calm her daughter. "Everything's alright. You're alright. We're here to see Grandma Cadence and Grandpa Shining. You remember them, don't you?" She gently lifts the little one from her stroller with magic, holding her up to me. "Say hi to Grandma Cadence, Snowflake."

The filly babbles incomprehensibly as they are want to do. When I reach my muzzle in to give her a kiss, she grabs it in her tiny front hooves. She climbs on my face curiously and giggles in that adorable filly way. I let her scamper all over my head for just a minute before I snatch her up in my own magic.

"It's time to go play with Grandpa Shining, ok?" I whisper to the filly, who just looks at me with a weird face.

I float her over to Shiny, who takes her from my grip with his own horn.

"Hey there, little one," he says softly. "I'm Shining Armor. I'm your grandpa."

Snowflake ignores my husband's words, focusing on feeling up his face like she did to me. She runs her stubby little hooves over his muzzle, an odd look on her face. Suddenly, she breaks out crying.

"WWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" the filly's piercing shrieks resound throughout our chambers. She flails, clearly trying to push away from Shining. "WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Shhhh! SHHHHH!" I hurriedly yank the filly back to me before she can continue. Cradling her in my wings, I sing a soft lullaby I learned from dear Fluttershy such a long time ago:

_Hush now, quiet now_

_It's time to lay your sleepy head._

_Hush now, quiet now_

_It's time to go to bed._

Snowflakes sniffs as I rock her in my soft feathers and repeat the little verse twice more. By the fourth time, she's quiet, and by the sixth, she's asleep in my wings. I lay her softly back in her stroller.

"I'm so sorry, Grandpa," Diamond Eyes hugging Shining with tears in her eyes. "She's just a filly, she didn't mean-"

"It's alright," says Shining with a resigned sigh. I can feel his disappointment and sadness, and I wince in sympathy.

"Uh, Shining," Gallium cuts in. "Grandpa?"

Shining looks at his fellow stallion. "Yes?" he asks.

"Could we… talk for a minute? Stallion to stallion? There's something I wanted to ask you about."

"Of course," Shining nods, a slight weary note added to his voice. "If you ladies don't mind…"

"Certainly not," I say, glad to give him any chance to get Snowflake's reaction out of his mind.

"Not at all, Grandpa," Diamond Eyes nods her agreement.

Shining nods. "Very well," he looks at Gallium. "This way, please." He leads the other stallion out another door, to a hallway leading to one of our balcony rooms. My great-great-great-granddaughter and I are left alone with a sleeping filly.

"So," I ask, when the boys have gone. "How are things with you two?"

Diamond Eyes looks at her hooves. "They've been alright, but lately there's been…" She looks back up at me. "Grandma? Can I ask you a question? About marriage relationships?"

"Of course you can," I answer with a faint smile. I point to myself. "Princess of Love, remember? I've maintained a marriage for nearly five hundred years now; I'd like to think that I know something about them."

"Thanks Grandma." She gives me a quick hug, which I return. "Lately, it feels like there's been a bit of a… rift between us. He's been more distant, spending more time out with his stallion friends or in his office. He doesn't talk to me as much anymore. What's going on? What should I do?"

Some ponies might suspect an affair, but I have the advantage of being able to rule that out. I've a powerful emotional sense, especially for love, and I could tell immediately that Gallium is still powerfully attached to his wife and cares very much for her. I rule that out pretty easily.

"When did this start?" I ask in a gentle voice.

"A few months ago, I think."

"Around when Snowflake was born?" I'm already starting to form hypotheses.

She nods. "I think so, yeah."

"Was there any sort of fight between you at the time? Any issues with the baby?"

She shakes her head. "Not that I can remember. He always seemed to like Snowflake, and he's never failed to take care of her."

"Do you know if there were any issues with his work?" Gallium is a tax accountant for a law firm, while Diamond Eyes quit her previous job as a teacher to stay at home and care for their foal.

"If there were, he didn't tell me." Hmmm…

"Are you sure you didn't have any kind of fight? Nothing came up at all?"

"Well…" she looks thoughtful.

"Go on. You can tell your Grandma."

"I do remember we had a bit of row over his office. I thought it was too messy, so I took a few hours while he was out working and reorganized the whole thing."

"Did you ask his permission before you did so?"

"Uh…" she looks a little embarrassed. "No?"

Ah, I think I'm starting to get it.

* * *

Shining Armor

"And she babies me," says Gallium in a frustrated tone. The two of us are parked comfortably on sofas under a small gazebo mounted on our palace balcony. Today, I've been called on to be an impromptu relationship councilor for my granddaughter's husband. Ah, the many duties of a prince's life. "She never used to mind, but ever since Snowflake was born she's just been this… condescending neat freak. Always "tidying up" someplace or another of mine, or rearranging my files without bothering to ask. It's irritating."

"Have you considered that she means well by it. I know my own flesh and blood, and I'm sure she's not intending to make you mad."

His expression softens a bit. "I know that…" he hangs his head slightly, before looking back up into my eyes. "But a stallion has his pride, you know?"

Do I ever.

"Sometimes a pony has to decide some things for himself, you get what I'm saying?" he continues with a sigh, looking down at a pillow.

Preach it, brother.

"I work better with a little bit of organized chaos. And ever since we've been living on just my income and our savings, I've had to… put in some extra hours." He looks at me again. "It's been a bit hard, and the last thing I need is to come home to find half my stuff placed where I can't find it and to get my mane fiddled with and my diet criticized and all that other stuff."

I nod sympathetically. "So, what have you done about it?"

"Well…" he hesitates. "I know she works hard to take care of Snowflake, and of our house, and I don't want to hurt her feelings… I may have taken to hanging out with the lads a bit more."

"How much is "a bit more"?" I ask.

"Ummm… Maybe twice as often as I used to?" he winces a bit. Yeah, that doesn't sound so good to me, either.

"I see. Have you tried, you know, just talking to her about it?"

"Well, I don't want to make her feel like I don't appreciate her efforts, but…"

"Gallium, let me let you in on a little secret." I motion for him to come closer, and he does. "As a centuries-old veteran of a single marriage, I can tell you that the key to working out your problems with each other is to be honest about them."

"But-"

I shush him with a hoof. "I know that it doesn't always seem easy, but trust me on this. You two love each other, I can tell. Talking out your problems like reasonable adults is much better than saying nothing and building a wall of frustration and resentment between you two. It's things like that that can ruin a marriage, long term."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. When we're done here, go and talk to your wife. Tell her what you've told me, and ask her for her view of the situation. Then work it out between the two of you like the smart, capable ponies you are."

Gallium takes a moment to mull it over, before apparently coming to some decision. "… You're right. I've put this off too much already. Today, when we get home, we'll talk about it."

* * *

Cadence

"You really think talking to him will work?" Diamond Eyes asks.

"I think that you're both smart, reasonable ponies that I love dearly. And I think you love each other, and are willing to make some sacrifices to make your relationship work. So I think that when you've left Shiny and I behind, you should explain your problem to your husband clearly and calmly. Honest communication is the foundation of a healthy relationship."

Diamond Eyes nods, slowly at first but with increasing conviction. "Thanks Grandma." She hugs me warmly. "You always have good advice."

I hug her back. "You can always come to Grandma Cadence if you need help, my little filly."

I plant another kiss on her forhead. She giggles.

* * *

Celestia

I hate to do this.

What? Do you think I enjoy it? Do you think Princess Celestia, Diarch of Equestria, Sol Invictus herself, enjoys arranging for the death of her family members? Even if they should have been dead centuries ago, only kept alive by unhallowed magecraft of a sort that should have been forgotten, all so a single pony doesn't have to acknowledge a basic fact of life: all mortal things must pass, in time.

It's not easy for me. I remember when Shining Armor was just a thin recruit barely out of colthood with an adoring little sister and not-so-hidden crush on my niece. When it became clear that she reciprocated, I encouraged them to date. When Shining earned his promotion to Captain, I remember feeling a great sense of pride in his achievements. Even then, I thought of him as a sort of family. When he finally proposed marriage to Cadence, I could not have been happier to perform their marriage myself. The look on my niece's face when I pronounced them husband and wife reminded me of my own face on my wedding day, thousands of years ago now.

Between the two of them, they defeated Queen Chrysalis where even I failed, and then helped to defend the Crystal Empire from King Sombra. They went on to rule with justice, honor, and mercy, showing themselves worthy of all the trust placed in them. My niece and nephew were attentive rulers, loving parents, and a wonderful influence on my dear student Twilight. They were everything I could have asked for in my adoptive family and more.

And then… it happened.

I thought I had prepared her for that day. I still cannot fathom what I did wrong. I told her of the hard truth that comes with being an alicorn when she was ready: the inevitable deaths of all those mortals we love. Even our dear children, who we bear inside of us and lovingly raise from tiny foals, eventually age and perish before our eyes while we endure, eternal and undying. Such is the fate of the alicorns, and even we must bow in the face of it. I thought Cadence understood when I took her to her parents' funerals after their tragic accident. I thought she would have the strength to bear the loss of her husband, as Luna and I have both done.

But I was wrong.

I admit it: I miscalculated the strength of her attachment to Shining Armor. It sounds foolish, but I didn't think she would abandon her royal duties to stay with him on his deathbed, and I certainly didn't expect what followed. Twilight… dear Twilight… that was perhaps the one time I hadn't an inkling of what you were going to do before you did. I knew you loved your brother dearly, but I never suspected you would go so far as to embrace the use of dark magic to keep his soul from its eternal rest. Didn't I teach you better?

What? You're surprised I know what she did? Please, do you think that _I_ would ever teach, or allow to be taught, a spell to rip the soul of a pony from its still-living body and implant it in a monstrosity of stone? Only dark magic contains that lore, and only one dark mage in that corner of the world would have had access to such high-level sorcery. My niece and apprentice used King Sombra's magic to preserve Shining Armor as he is now, and then lied to me about it.

Nothing good can ever come from dark magic. Still, out of respect for my fellow alicorns, and for Shining's long history of service, I bit my tongue. Nopony can claim I have not been reasonable. Nopony can claim I have not given them ample time to see sense. For three hundred ninety-two years, seven months, two weeks, and four days I have waited. I have pleaded, I have reasoned, I have threatened, I have explained at length, I have bargained. I have done everything I can think of for centuries to convince Cadence and Shining Armor to let one another go, lest the continuing ooze of dark magic from Shining summon something horrible to the Crystal Empire.

The spell's strength grows year by year. We have been lucky so far, in that the dark magic beacon has drawn nothing more serious than hooful of wendigoes. They have been dealt with easily enough. But I fear that such luck must run out, sooner rather than later. I have been more than tolerant, but I will not permit my niece's foalish refusal to let go of a mortal loved one to endanger these ponies any longer. The dark beacon _will_ be dispelled, and the Crystal Empire _will_ be secure.

I am truly sorry, Shining Armor. But very soon, you must die.


	7. Chapter 7

Cadence

Our time with grandfoals proves to be the last time either of us has any fun over the next two days. The schedule for the hosts is packed as the World Forum nears its climax. Auntie Luna's promised me a grand display to send off our guests on that final night. I have no doubt she'll keep her word on that, and it takes the matter out of my hooves, but Shining and I still have a lot of work to do between events. Shiny has to take on the challenge of maintaining our security, keeping hundreds of delegates from mutually hostile nations from descending into a brawl, and of course protecting the Crystal Empire from all manner of theft and vandalism that is almost unavoidable when cramming large numbers of foreigners into close proximity with treasures, cultural or otherwise. And then he frequently insists on getting into the metaphorical trenches to personally our staff in setting up, though I think that's mostly so he doesn't have to appear in public more.

As to yours truly? Well, I am of course responsible for maintaining our diplomatic relations in the midst of organized chaos. That is, I have to endure an unending parade of offended dignitaries complaining about this, that, and the other, smile and nod politely, and convince them to drop the matter. It's not uncommon that two different complaints from two different dignitaries are mutually exclusive, with all the headache for me that implies. Coupled to this, as offensive as I may find it, many of our more superstitious visitors refuse to meet with Shining alone outright, and most meetings go more smoothly when it's just the alicorn princess presiding. So I get no support whatsoever. Add to that my usual burden of functioning as the highest court in the land, the standard daily pile of bureaucratic paperwork to sign off on, and dealing with empire's many complaints, and I confess I find myself almost wishing Discord were here to screw everything up. It would be just as much work, but at least he could make me laugh first.

At any rate, two long days of speeches, feasts, conferences, backroom deals, and the general flow of such things later Shining and I find ourselves at the final event of the penultimate day of festivities: the ball. As the hosting kingdom, it is traditional for the royal pair to take the first dance. Shining Armor loves to dance. I love to dance. Great, right?

Wrong.

Dancing as couple is another pleasure that is denied us these days. The size imbalance between us makes it difficult, and Shiny's body seals the deal. It's heavy as only rock can be, and makes far too much noise on the polished crystal of the ballroom floor to appear graceful. Though we do it sometimes in private, for fun, Shining and I would only embarrass ourselves trying to lead this off. Shiny suggested that I should get a new partner for the occasion, but I refused. I did this to him, so when he suffers, I suffer. That's my rule, and I will not do otherwise: I will take no other husband, I will take no consort, and I will take no other dance partner.

So it is that the two of us stand around the sidelines of the dancing floor while elegant classical music plays in the background and dozens of other couples twirl about. Shining's face is resolutely neutral, as always, but I can feel the waves of disappointment and desire coming off of him. I don't know of much to cheer him up besides wrapping his shoulder in a comforting wing, so I try that. He pulls away after just a few seconds, and I let him go. He wants to be alone now, and I can at least give him that.

My thoughts are cut short by a familiar voice. "Cadence? Is everything alright?"

I look to my left to find the source. "Oh, hello Auntie Celestia." I give her a fake smile. "Everything's fine, why do you ask?"

"Because you are standing alone in a crowd wearing a glum expression on that face of yours."

I am? Damn, I thought I covered it up better.

"… Am I really that obvious?"

"Not at all," she gives me a warm smile. "I simply know you very well. I assure you that it is not so obvious to everypony around us."

Thank the gods for small miracles, I suppose.

* * *

Celestia

"Would you like to talk about what's made you unhappy?" I ask, certain that I know the answer before my niece says a single word.

She sighs slightly and shakes her head. "No thanks, Auntie." As I thought.

"Can I do anything to help you right now?" I press. Again, I don't truly need to ask.

"I don't think so, no," she answers flatly. "Not unless you know a spell for improved ballroom dancing."

"I'm afraid not," I respond, truthfully.

"Then no."

I nod politely, my face the image of a concerned aunt. Which I am. "Very well then. Perhaps you wish me to find somepony else to talk with?"

Cadence nods back at me. "I think that would be best, Auntie."

I hug the smaller alicorn around the neck and give her a brief nuzzle. "Alright, but remember, if there's ever anything you want to talk to me about, know that I'm always here for you."

She returns my hug with a single leg. "Thank you. I'll remember, I promise."

"I know you will," I answer, already beginning to fade into the crowd. Well, fade as much as I ever do in any crowd.

She's seen me up close and personal. Good. It is vital for both the health and welfare of our respective nations, as well as more… personal reasons, that Cadence believe I had nothing to do with what is to happen tonight. My assigned role is that of the shocked but supportive aunt, a shoulder for my niece to cry on and somepony she can rely on while she picks up the pieces of her shattered world. I will help her move through the grieving as I have done for many ponies before her.

Of course, I'm usually not the _cause_ of the grief. So that's relatively new. It's not a feeling I particularly relish.

I need an alibi for this eve's events. Everpony, Cadence especially, must know that I was here, that I cast no magic, and that nopony ever wonder what I was up to. The best way to hide a lie, I've found, is to wrap it in truth. I will achieve a perfect alibi by actually being here throughout the ball, casting no magic, and genuinely doing nothing in particular. So it is that I wander the ballroom, making pleasant conversation with dozens of ambassadors and delegates and all manner of political creatures.

My agent will handle the dirty work. Lady Rose Quartz and her type are perfectly predictable – I've seen far too many of them in my own lands not to recognize them on sight – she wishes for high-value marriages to boost the status of her children and grandchildren. Her own union having been a purely political affair, she has little comprehension of and even less respect for any marriage not for the purpose of producing strong, noble heirs to the bloodline. She has risen as far as she will go, but for her son and her daughter, the future could hold more. Persuading her to go along with this plan required only simple bribery.

But her predictability is not why I chose her for this task. No, the reason I selected her was that she had a believable existing motive and standing dislike for Shining Armor. If all goes well, nopony should receive any blame at all. But if something goes wrong, I cannot afford to risk public fighting or even war with the Crystal Empire. A scapegoat is a necessity, and she the fits the bill admirably.

An alicorn in a blind rage, you see, is a powerful, but unthinking force. If Cadence should guess, or perhaps even suspect, the role the lady plays in this, I have no doubt in my mind that my niece will brutally kill her. I know that if anypony did this to Twilight or… gods forbid, Luna, I would hunt them to the ends of the earth and beyond to smite them down, or die trying.

Naturally, when I sold this plan I downplayed that risk to Lady Quartz, but in all frankness I rate her chances of surviving the night at no more than half. I don't believe anypony truly deserves to die… but this isn't the first time I've ordered ponies into dangerous situations for the greater good. I'm willing to accept more blood on my hooves and risk another stain on a weary conscience if it secures the safety of tens of thousands of innocent ponies. Nothing must be more important to an alicorn than her duty to her ponies. To allow personal sentiment to override for even a moment the objective greater good of all… that is a dark path that my sister once trod, and which I refuse to go down.

I will weep bitter tears for my niece and my nephew for millennia to come, and their heartbroken faces will haunt my nightmares, but feelings will never stop me from doing what is right.

* * *

Shining Armor

I take long, slow steps through the greenhouse gardens. The humid air condenses quickly onto my body, soaking me in mock sweat and, I'm sure, ruining my evening jacket. I'm sure my tailor will have a minor aneurysm over this, but right now I just want to be alone, and this is the best place for that.

_This isn't living._ The damn voice sees fit to remind me.

This evening has been… taxing, to say the least. Cadence and I used to love to dance together. But I can't pull it off in public, not like this. Just because I can't enjoy myself doesn't mean she shouldn't, so I asked if she would consider dancing with somepony else. I assured her I don't mind – not entirely true, but I want her to be happy more than I want to be happy. But does that mare listen? No. Her damned alicorn martyrdom complex comes to the fore again, and her refusal is actually loud enough to crack a vase in our room. I was lucky I don't have eardrums to damage. What did I ever do to deserve a wife as beautiful and loyal as her?

I'll tell you what: nothing.

I can feel my frustration building as I continue my solitary walk. Damn that mare! What does she see in me?! Why does she insist on stooping to my level just to try and make me happy? She deserves to be able to enjoy herself freely, without worrying about hurting her failure of a husband in the process.

What? You think I'm not a failure. Please, I failed from the very beginning of our marriage. I failed to protect my bride from being kidnapped and tossed into an abandoned mine before our wedding even happened. My will was too weak, my senses too blind, to detect that, oh yeah, a hideous bug queen replaced my alicorn bride and was sucking the life and love out of me on a daily basis. I had to be rescued. Rescued, on my own wedding day, by my own little sister and bride. The two ponies I wanted to protect more than anything else in world, and they had to protect me. Then when the Crystal Empire returned, I failed. I tried to stand up to Sombra keep him away from my family friends, and the only thing I got for it was my magic sealed off and then tossed aside as too weak to even be worth killing. Literally the only meaningful contribution I made towards saving the day was tossing my wife like a javelin. And of course, when Tirek returned and Discord betrayed us, I failed again. He swatted my best aside like an insignificant insect and ate my magic. If Tirek hadn't been so blinded by his own self-conceit, had he been just a tiny bit more cautious, he could have murdered my helpless wife and her two royal aunts on the spot. And there would have been absolutely nothing I could have done to stop it. So once again I failed to meaningfully protect anypony and had to be bailed out by little Twily and her friends.

Some captain of the guard I am.

_This isn't living._

Shut up already, voice.

Buck it all. What does that mare see in me?! What makes me – insignificant, blundering little me – so important that she feels compelled to deny herself for all eternity just for the sake of not making me feel bad? What am I? We've already established that I'm failure at the thing I want most, my very own special talent. In addition to that, I'm a useless… crippled… _eunuch_. I can't even perform the most basic of marital duties with my wife any longer, and she still insists on staying with me. Damn her martyrdom complex to the depths of Tartarus! She deserves a better husband than me.

"On that, my Prince, we are agreed."

What? What the hell?! My eyes bolt from side to side, taking in the greenhouse around me. Where the hell did that voice come from?! It takes me a second to finally muster the common sense to just look behind me. Some guard I am – anypony could have crept up on me unawares and attacked, and I would have been too busy wallowing in my own inadequacies until it was too late.

It's dark in here at this time of night, but my eyes pick out the light pink mane and shimmering white coat of Lady Rose Quartz. A thousand questions run through my mind. What is she doing here? What does she want? How did she reply to what I said earlier?

"You are mumbling, my Prince. I can hear you."

… Oh.

I bolt my trap shut posthaste. Tartarus' gates, now I'm talking to myself too? I can't honestly blame her for thinking me a freak.

She takes a few steps forwards. Now that I take the time to look, I can see she's still in her elaborate blue ballgown she wore to the festivities inside. She's sweating in the humid greenhouse air, and her silk clothing isn't handling all that fluid very well. Her expression remains impassive in spite of all that, as she bows before me.

"At ease," I say. This is weird, and I don't know what she's doing here. But I'm guessing she's about to tell me.

Lady Rose Quartz raises herself back from her bow. "As his majesty wishes."

"Would you care to drop the formalities and explain to me why you're here? This is hardly the place for silk ballgowns."

"It is hardly the place for uniform jackets either, your majesty," she observes drily. "But if you would know, I have come here to talk to you. Away from all prying eyes."

"Grand." I'm already remembering my last chat in the greenhouses. I wonder if I'll need to break another flower pot.

"I simply wished to ask you a few questions. If that is acceptable to his majesty" She takes a few more steps forward, into a patch of moonlight.

I'm a prince. She's merely a lady. I don't have to answer anything I don't want to. But… I look at her inquisitive face, and that look in her eyes… Well, what harm could it do to merely bandy a few words? If it gets uncomfortable, I can always leave.

"You have my permission." I urge her on.

"My thanks, your highness," she gives me another little bow before continuing. "Do you love your wife?"

"What?" Can she really be that oblivious? Isn't it obvious for all the world to see?

She raises an eyebrow. "Do you love your wife, my Prince?"

I look into her eyes again. Part of me is offended by this, but… another part wants to see where this is going. "I do," I answer.

"Part of love is always doing what is best for the loved pony, is it not so?"

"It is so," I reply in a level tone, holding our eye contact this time.

"It is good that you know this." She gives a pained sigh, and her eyes look a bit sad. "Some think that I do not know what love is. But I assure you, my Prince, that I love my children with all my heart. I wish nothing but the best for them. I know what it is like to care for another pony above and beyond my own welfare or even existence. I am sure you felt the same way about yours?"

"I did," I confirm.

She actually looks… sympathetic? "Nopony should have to witness their children perish. Do you not agree?"

I nod vigorously, actually starting to feel a bit insulted. Does she think I don't remember how hard it was to bury the twins, when the time came? If had had tear ducts, I would have filled a river, I think.

"And yet you must do that very thing. And what's more, your wife is condemned to that very fate alongside you."

Cadence… gods, I remember when our first child died. The late night sobbing and nightmares didn't stop for more than a year.

"Do you know why that is, Prince Shining Armor?"

"Because of me," I break our eye contact to look at my hooves.

A white hoof comes under my chin and lifts it up. She stares into my eyes, and I into hers. If I wanted, I could have her arrested for touching me without permission… but I find I don't want to.

After a long time, she speaks again. "It is an incontestable fact that all mortal life must die. And because of you, her children are mortal."

I nod again. It's true – an alicorn can only produce more of its own kind by mating with another alicorn. Cadence didn't want to talk about it, but I read Twily's studies into the matter. I always try to read whatever my LSBFF publishes.

Lady Quartz sighs again. "You are not the only pony here who cares for our princess, Shining Armor. I was there, the day of Sounding Trumpet's funeral."

Sounding Trumpet. Our great-great-grandson, and the last of his generation to die. Of lung disease I think it was, a few years ago. Gods… I don't even one hundred percent remember how my own descendants died. I'm horrible.

She continues. "I saw our princess there. I saw the pain on her face. I saw the tears in her eyes."

I wince. Cadence has always had a big heart, especially for our little foals. She never takes their deaths well, even after all these years.

"I do not really feel that I need to ask this, but…" she hesitates. "You do not like that, correct?"

"What?!" I feel angry now. How dare she?! How dare she ask a question like that?! I glare angrily into her eyes. "Of course I don't!"

She nods sympathetically. "And do you wish you could have instead given her children that she could have loved and cherished forever?"

How is that even a question?! I snarl. "Be very careful, Lady. You are treading on very thin ice now. I will tolerate much, but questioning my desire to spare my wife pain… you go too far."

She recoils a bit, but maintains her eye contact. "I understand. Such things are sensitive. But what if I told you…" She pauses, looking uncertain.

"Told me what?" I ask, in a somewhat less angry tone.

"My Prince, what if I told you that there was a stallion who could?"

My eyes go wide. "What?!"

"What if I told you that out there, right now, is an alicorn stallion with his eyes on your wife? What would you say to that?"

"You're lying," I point a hoof at her. "I've been ruling this empire for centuries, and have spoken to the peoples of many lands. None of them have seen such a thing. The last alicorn stallion to exist was Celestia's father Solaris, who died fighting Discord."

She raises an eyebrow. "Am I? Look into my eyes, my Prince, and tell me if I speak the truth."

I do. Our eyes lock onto each other, my crystal blue and her flowery violet. We just stare at each other for… I don't know how long. Long enough for the beams of moonlight filtering in through the roof to substantially change their angle. But time ceases to matter to me. The only thing that matters is peeling back this mare's mind, discovering if she speaks the truth…

Sweet Celestia, she's being honest.

I break our eye contact and blink, too stunned to say anything. I don't trust my voice to work right anyway.

"Do you believe me now, highness?"

I nod dumbly, still unable to work up words. An alicorn. An alicorn _male_. A pony who could truly be the mate Cadence deserves forever. A pony who could give her children that she could love and cherish for all time, instead of a brief period followed by endless grief. But that won't happen.

Because I'm in the way.

"You know your wife, my Prince. You she will never abandon you, as long as you live."

I nod again.

As long as I live…

"Do you know what you must do, Shining Armor?" Her hoof forces me back into eye contact. She stares hard at me, while I fight the urge to shrink away under shame and guilt. "If you truly love and want the best for your princess, do you know what you must do now?"

I nod. Slowly at first, but with increasing conviction as the idea permeates throughout my mind.

Lady Rose Quartz smiles. Her makeup, I notice, has been ruined by the water and perspiration coating her, and is running down her face. Her ballgown has been soaked and is wilting away in the humid air. But she's smiling.

She turns her back to me and takes a few paces away before halting one last time. "You are truly the epitome of what a prince should be, highness. I salute your selfless dedication to the happiness of others." She turns around and gives me a long, deep bow. I still don't feel up to saying anything.

There is silence for several more seconds as she prostrates herself on the floor before me. Eventually, she rises to her hooves, turns yet again, and walks back on the path out of the gardens.

I know what I have to do now. Cadence… mi amore… if I must break your heart for a time to give you what you deserve for all eternity, I will. You will mend, I am sure. You are strong, you are an alicorn. You deserve to flourish, not tie yourself down with a pathetic remnant of a failed guardian like me. You've given me everything I could have wanted from a marriage and more, but I cannot give the same to you.

As my thoughts of what I must do and how to do it consume me, I only half-notice another sound. Lady Rose Quartz is far away now, almost to the exit, but I could swear that I hear a faint hint of a noise from her.

It sounds like giggling.

I dismiss the noise and the noble from my mind. They aren't important.

* * *

Cadence

Ok, I am beginning to get worried now. Shiny takes breaks from social events, especially ones with a lot of foreigners. He's been doing that for hundreds of years, ever since he reached old age and found it physically difficult to stand such things. I make accommodations for him. How can I not after what sacrifices he made for me?

But even Shining isn't normally prone to wandering off from a ball and not turning up again for hours. I scan the room again. I can see Twilight – who's finally mastered the art of high-class dancing, if you were interested – Auntie Luna, Auntie Celestia, cousins Blueblood, many of my nobility, countless delegates… Tartarus, even Spike is here, albeit not engaging in a lot of dancing. But my husband isn't around. That's not normal.

I excuse myself from my conversation with a Saddle Arabian mare and take another look around the room, making sure not to miss anything. Nothing.

I cast a spell, just to make absolutely sure. No, Shining is not in this room, nor in its immediate vicinity.

A small spike of fear wedges its way in. What if something's gone wrong? What if Shiny's hurt? Is something going on? My ever-dutiful husband never abandons me for this long without explaining something first. Am I just being paranoid?

Well, better safe than sorry, when it comes to affairs like this. I'm sure I'll find him asleep in our bed or somesuch. I'm probably just jumping at shadows, but I choose to do so anyway.

I slip quietly out of the ballroom and begin the trek to our private chambers. They're where Shiny likes to go just to get away for a while. Well, that and our gardens, but I hope he wouldn't ruin his nice uniform jacket by prancing about in those things tonight. He knows how much it irks our poor tailor if his clothes get damaged.

The guards salute me as I pass by. I smile back at them, but hurry on my way up the stairs and through the winding crystalline corridors that lead back to our upper-floor rooms. I break into a light trot as I near the door, before throwing it open with somewhat undue haste and looking inside.

My heart sinks slightly. There's nopony here. Nopony at all… wait.

Out of the corner of my I eye I spy something misty coming from one of the walls. I turn my head to observe it. It takes a shape. My eyes become dinner plates. My jaw drops. This is the _last_ thing I wanted or expected to see.

"Sombra."


	8. Chapter 8

Cadence

"Sombra," I breathe, scarely able to credit what my eyes are telling me. Sombra. The name sends shudders down my spine. I've seen and felt the results of that stallion's cruelty. I've read his meticulous notes on his bloodcurdling experiments on helpless innocents. I've stared at my predecessor's remains, murdered by his own hoof.

And he's in my bedroom.

I don't think. I go with my instincts. I'm an alicorn princess grown, in the very heart of her domain. The love of my subjects, my friends, my family… it gives me strength. I'm not the comparative pushover I was when last we met. I lash out.

A lance of pure, blue magical energy launches itself from my horn. It slices through the distance between us faster than blinking, and spears straight through the evil king's heart.

So why is it the wall behind him that explodes?

An enormous hole is blown into the wall separating our bedchambers from the bathing, sending chunks and shards of crystal flying in all directions. Had somepony been in there, they would have been cut to ribbons or crushed utterly. As it is, the bathing room is ruined.

But the stallion stands there still.

"Impossible," I take a step back. "You can't be here. You're dead."

The king… raises an eyebrow at me? "Well, yes," he says, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I would think you would have known as much, considering you helped to kill me." His form is a little misty where my attack hit him, but quickly restores itself to apparent solidity.

Damn. What spells do I know for dispelling hostile spirits? I wrack my brains hurriedly, but nothing immediately comes to mind. It's not like we have many plagues of angry ghosts in the Crystal Empire.

Sombra takes a step forward. "I am not here to fight you, princess."

"I don't believe you," I snarl before lashing out with another spell. This one takes the form of an expanding pink sphere that quickly envelopes the room. Sombra's form wavers briefly as it passes through him, but it repairs itself as quickly as before.

He sighs and rolls his eyes. "Perhaps this would be better suited for conversing with you?"

His body breaks up into a grey-black mist, before reforming a few seconds later into a tall, dark grey unicorn stallion. His mane is still black, but has lost its flowing properties and is simply long and combed back. His horn has lost its unnatural curve and red overtone. His eyes are a dark green, surrounded by whites. Normal, healthy pony eyes. When he opens his mouth again, the teeth are ordinary pony grinders, not the vicious pointed things they were before. His face… it's different, but the same. I can tell this is same individual, and yet not. All his armor and regalia are gone as well.

Sombra – it's still him, I'm sure – gives a slight bow at the neck. "Is this more to your liking?"

Now that I think about it, this is probably how he looked before the dark magic exerted its influence on his form. It's actually rather handsome, come to think of it.

Wait, what the hell am I thinking? Get it together, Cadence, you have to banish this ghost before he does anypony anymore harm.

"Are you going to listen to me or are you going to try throwing things at me next?" he continues, his tone somewhat impatient. "Before you do, I am already deceased and there is little you or I can do to harm one another."

"Listen to _you_?! _Never!_" I hiss, the memories of his atrocities against ponykind bubbling up in my head. "Get out of my castle! Get out of my Empire! The ponies here are free now, and they'll _never_ be your slaves again!"

"I do not desire such things any longer," he says, looking down at his own hooves.

Am I crazy, or is that an expression of… guilt on his face?

He looks up at me. "I have changed, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. I am no longer the pony I once was."

"Liar!" I point at him with a hoof. "Ponies like _you_ don't change!"

"Really?" He raises an eyebrow as he dissolves back into mist. "Some ponies," he says, in the form of Nightmare Moon. "Might disagree with such an assertion," his voice comes from Discord's mouth.

"_You _are not _them._" I snarl angrily at the ghost as I continue to wrack my brains for any spell that might harm or chase away a spirit. If this is really Sombra, I need to get rid of him as soon as possible.

He sighs again, resuming the form of the handsome stallion. "I have not come to argue with you. I have come to help you."

"You can _help_ me by scurrying back to whatever hell we sent you to last time!"

"My hell has been to endure nearly five hundred years as a powerless shade wandering in darkness. Nopony but my own thoughts for company. I caught glimpses of the Empire under your rule from time to time. I could affect nothing, but I saw. It was hateful and humiliating to me at first but in time it became… beautiful. I began to regret what I had done." He shakes his head with a sad expression on his face. "I can never reverse what I did, but I can aid you now."

"How could a disgusting villain like you help me?!" I retort, still unable to think of an appropriate enchantment to attack this thing with.

"By warning you, princess."

"Warning me of what?"

"Your Shining Armor, of course."

I freeze. The blood goes cold in my veins. Has this… _monster_ done something with Shiny? Is that why he's missing?

"If you've done something to him…" I manage, anger building in my gut. The floor starts to shake slightly under my hooves.

"I have done nothing to your beloved, but I am here to warn you that if you do not arrive at the old library in the next… oh, I'd say about forty-five seconds now, you will never see him on this side of the veil again. Better hurry."

Who the hell does he think he's kidding? I was firing up my best teleportation spell the moment he gave me a destination. Buck Sombra. If Shining is in trouble, that's my first priority. I'll deal with that shade later.

* * *

I reappear in the Crystal Empire's historic main library. It was the only one that existed when Sombra came to power, so it's the only one his alleged ghost could have been referring to. It's deserted at this time of night, well past closing time. Even the most fastidious of workers will have gone home to get some rest.

I dart throughout the shelves, calling at the top of my lungs. "Shining? Shining?! Shining?! Where are you?! Shining?! Where are you?!"

My calls echo and rebound across the great dusty place, but for a moment there's nothing else. Was this a trick? An illusion to lure me into an ambush, perhaps? Or some spiteful treachery by a long-dead king? Why did I listen to him?! You can't ever trust a pony like Sombra, no matter what they-

Wait. I hear something. Words. Soft. Distant. Repeated.

An incantation.

I don't even bother to run, simply opting to teleport down to where I estimate the sound to be coming from. My eyes widen as I see what's going on.

Shiny is standing in the center of an immaculate runic circle carved into the library's floor. In front of his face is a book, and he's repeating a line over and over.

"_Vincula dissolvit. Vincula dissolvit. Vincula dissolvit. Vincula dissolvit_," he repeats again and again in a strangely dispassionate voice.

"Shiny?!" I call out to him, terror making my blood run cold. If that spell does what I think it does… "SHINY?!" I scream at him. It gets no reaction.

I don't hesitate any longer. I don't dare. Telekinesis grabs his body and that book and tears them from the circle as fast I can manage. I catch his terrifyingly limp form in my hooves, even as a lance of energy obliterates the circle altogether, along with a considerable portion of surrounding floor. The shockwaves topple numerous shelves and spill books all over the floor, but truthfully I could not care less.

Shining Armor looks up at me with a strange expression on his face. His eyes don't look normal, and he sways as if under the influence of alcohol. But that's not possible for him.

"Cadence…" he mutters in an odd, distant voice. "So sorry… I couldn't…" His eyes roll back and he collapses altogether against me.

"Shiny!" I scream, shaking him. "Wake up! Please!" He does no such thing.

Shining doesn't have traditional vital signs to check. The only way to tell what's going on with him is to peer into the Aether and examine him on a magical level. Thankfully, I am well-practiced at doing just that. What I see horrifies me.

The ties binding Shining Armor's soul to the body we created for him are terrifyingly weak. To put it in material terms, they've frayed, weathered, and molded down to the last few threads. There's barely anything at all keeping his soul from passing from this world and beyond the veil, where even I hold no power. It was as I suspected – he was trying to kill himself.

My eyes water. I could Shiny's limp form close. How… How… How could he do this? What have I done wrong? Was it because I didn't spend enough time with him? Did I not do something? Did I do something he hated? If I had been a better researcher, would it have not come to this? What could I-

_Wait._ A dark male voice I've heard recently whispers in my ear. _Look closer._

I don't know why, but I do.

I peel through the magic surrounding Shining Armor's soul. It's dark magic, powerful chains meant to enslave a dead pony repurposed to hold one to his body. But… there's something more. It's a subtle spell, but I can just make out traces of it. What is it? I dive even deeper into the webs of magic, searching for the source of this strange element. It's… an enchantment.

A compulsion.

I open my eyes in the material realm again. Somepony enchanted my Shining to do-

I spy something in his jacket. An envelope. I pull it out with magic. It's addressed to me. There's a letter inside:

_My dearest wife, my princess, my Cadence,_

_ I'm so sorry, love. But I just can't do this anymore. Day after day, month after month, year after year, without end. Nothing but hollow emptiness remains for me here. Even your touch, my love, has no more comfort for me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you this, but I worried you would try to stop me. I can't live like this anymore, Cadence. I'm sorry for failing you again, but it's true._

_ If you love me, if you really care about me, you'll treat my last request with respect: move on. Mourn me, bury me in the ground beside our children if you would like, but let me go. I can't make you happy as I am, and without your happiness there's nothing left for me in this world. But there is still so much in it for you. It is with a heavy heart that I go on to the next life, and it is my hope and prayer that you will be strong, pull through, and maybe someday even learn to love again._

_Love you always,_

_Shining Armor_

More tears pour from my eyes at the very thought. It's Shiny's hoofwriting, alright, but it doesn't sound like him. He'd never spring something like this on-

The wheels in my head must be slow tonight. It takes my brain a few seconds to put the whole thing together:

Somepony put a compulsion on my Shining Armor.

With no warning, my Shining tried to kill himself.

Somepony tried to make my Shiny kill himself.

Have you ever had a moment where your mood radically shifts with no warning or pause? Have you ever felt anger so intense you could swear the air around you was shimmering with heat? I now have the dubious privilege of experiencing both simultaneously. My sadness is gone, replaced by an overpowering, utter hatred unlike anything I've felt before. My scream is loud enough to shatter every window in this library and knock even more bookshelves over. But I do not give a flying buck about windows or bookshelves.

Shiny and I vanish from the building in another blue flash.

* * *

When we reappear in our quarters, the guards have finally shown up and are investigating the room. After I've blown an enormous hole in the wall, faced down a dark spirit, and teleported away? _That's_ when the worthless foals I pay to guard my home show up?! Useless idiots, all of them.

One of them, Lieutenant Crystalline Star if I recall correctly, seems to be the pony in charge. The guards level their spears and spells when my husband and I arrive, but quickly lower them when it becomes clear who it is.

"You majesties," Lieutenant Star says with a bow. "Thank the gods you are safe, we were just about to-"

I cut him off with a hard smack on the face. He skids back a couple of feet and bangs his helmeted head into a night table. When he unsteadily rises back to his hooves, I can see blood on his cheek. I don't sympathize.

"Your highness?" he asks, in a more suitably cautious tone.

"You incompetent morons!" I openly snarl and bare my teeth at them. "There was an attempt on the LIFE of YOUR PRINCE, and YOU did **NOTHING!**" My Royal Canterlot Voice comes out. The guards cringe and one or two covers his ears.

"But… your grace-" another one begins.

My hoof swings again, and he goes flying into the nearest wall. "**SHUT THE HELL UP!**" I roar at them, punctuating the order by punching the floor hard enough to make a hole several inches deep in pure crystal. They bite their tongues and bow before their princess. Good. "Now," I continue, in an almost sickly sweet tone. "You ponies can make yourselves useful for a change by following my instructions to the letter. As of now, the Crystal Empire is officially under martial law, by order of the princess. An attack has been made on royalty, and nopony is to enter or leave the Empire without my personal say-so. Understood?"

The guards around me nod meekly, not daring to say anything. The last one I hit is still unsteady on his hooves.

"Good," I smile like a benevolent schoolteacher. "I'm so glad you get it. Now, if you would kindly head downstairs and inform our guests that they are hereby confined to their quarters for the duration of this lockdown, I would be quite pleased. Tell them that it's for their own protection, lest our mystery assassin strike again. Is that clear to you all?"

Again, meek nods. Everypony seems mostly recovered now, but I seem to have successfully established the gravity of the situation with them.

"I'm happy to hear it. One last thing: nopony but myself and my husband are permitted in these chambers unless personally accompanied by one of us until further notice. I trust you gentlecolts can manage that?"

More nods.

"Excellent! Then kindly go and get to it."

The guards file out rapidly, clearly eager not to be the next to provoke my wrath. A very wise decision on their part.

When the door closes behind the last of them, I set Shiny gently down on our bed. Oh my love… I'm so sorry I let them do this to you. I don't know who did this to you. I don't know how long they've had you under some spell. I don't know what they wanted you dead for. I don't know what would have happened if Sombra of all ponies hadn't warned me in time. I don't know a lot of things, and I'm truly sorry for it.

What I do know is that somepony is going to _pay_ for this.

The anger and hatred within me is more than enough to power the dark magic I memorized so long ago. My horn glows black and my eyes fade as I recite the incantation.

"_Vincula nigro media nocte, o anima._"

Chains of midnight black, bind the soul.

I can see the magic working in my Aether-sight. Tendrils of blackness wrap themselves tightly around Shining's soul, reinforcing the enchantments and pulling it back into the body. It does little to resist the pull, and in a few moments I have reattached my husband to his form. Recovery may take some time, at least if the prior experience is a valid comparison, but he shouldn't be at risk of slipping away now.

I open my eyes and dispel the faint remnants of dark magic that try to cluster about my horn, useless parasites now that their function has been served. Now that I've stopped Shiny from dying, the issue then becomes one of punishment. I need to know who did this.

I mouth a silent apology to my nonresponsive husband. I don't like violating his privacy as I'm about to do, but sometimes a princess has to do what a princess has to do. I tap his horn with my own and cast a spell to bring out his memories.

Not his deepest darkest secrets, you understand. I would never wish to pry so. What I want are his most recent memories, going back to whenever he had the compulsion cast on him. This is quite illegal without consent, but I make the law and in any case I'm sure would agree if he were awake to do so.

His immediate memories are clouded. It's like seeing the world through particularly murky water. That only confirms my belief that he was not acting of his own free will, but rather magical coercion. Somepony tried to force him to kill himself. I do not think anypony can grasp just how utterly furious that makes me, but it's enough to say that the tower, the palace itself, starts to quake in apparent empathy for its mistress' anger. I go back further and further into the night, waiting for something clear to show up. The last thing he remembers before being magically enslaved. What is it? What is it? What is-

It's an image of the greenhouses. And Lady Rose Quartz.

Our palace starts shaking even harder.

That's it. No more Mrs. Nice Princess. I've had enough of the crawling little invertebrate. Trying to talk me into replacing Shiny is bad enough, but to try and make him commit suicide? And leave a letter instructing me to "love again"? Lady, you are going to regret that for the rest of your very short lifetime.

Several protective spells work themselves around Shining's limp form. Shields, wards, and alarms to bring me running if somepony so much as gets near him. I'll care for him personally, but first I have royal justice to dispense.

I may be more furious than I can ever remember being, but as I vanish from the room yet again I can't suppress a feeling that this is going to be fun.

* * *

Lady Rose Quartz of the Crystal Empire is presently occupying a sofa in a rather large and well-appointed waiting room. With her are her son, Gleaming Jewel, and her not quite out of fillyhood daughter, Radiant Brilliance. The former is presently engaged in playing with the latter, while their mother looks on with a benevolent expression on her face. Under most circumstances, I'd describe it as sweet, reminiscent as it is of Shining Armor and little filly Twilight. Of course, under most circumstances, I wouldn't be there to kill a pony.

To her miniscule credit, when an obviously wrathful alicorn princess appears in the center of her waiting room, Lady Quartz's eyes go first to her children.

"Run!" she yells, immediately. "Run! Now! Before-"

Too late.

My horn flashes, and the lady's two children vanish in a flash.

"**NO!**" she screams, tears in her eyes. She flings herself off her reclining sofa and collapses at my hooves. "From a mother to a mother, please, don't harm them! They had nothing to do with anything! I swear it on my life and on the souls of all my ancestors that they know nothing-"

"About the fact that their mother was trying to murder their prince in cold blood," I finish for her. My tone is not particularly sympathetic.

Lady Rose Quartz wilts and sobs, continuing to grovel at my hooves. I simply take a moment to enjoy the beginning of my retribution before I speak up again.

"You may consider yourself fortunate, Lady. Your children are unharmed. Unlike _some_ ponies, _I_ do not target the innocent."

Her children truly are quite safe, I assure you. I'm no monster. I simply teleported them to a bed and put them to sleep. They will wake in the morning with no memory of what happened. I doubt it will be a particularly pleasant morning for them, but they shall live to see it. Unlike a certain other pony.

"Thank you, your highness," she says earnestly, tears in her eyes. "I-"

I throw her across the room. She impacts hard against the wall and slides to the floor in a daze.

"I will not be extending that same courtesy to you." I pick her up again, she floating helplessly in the iron grip of alicorn telekinesis.

She blinks away the last of her daze and manages to look me in the eye. Her face has an odd expression on it. "You are going to kill me this night, are you not, highness?"

I don't bother denying it. "Yes," I answer bluntly. "You committed a crime punishable only by death, and I am here to carry out your sentence. The only thing in question is how much you are going to suffer before you die."

"I… see." She sags visibly, and I can sense the feeling of defeat pouring from her.

"Feel free to scream all you like. I can assure you that I've taken measures to make this room a very private one." I throw her across the room and into a delicate-looking cabinet. The glass shatters under the impact, cutting into her flesh and ripping much of her dress off.

Rose moans in pain. I pull her right back out through the glass, cutting her still more, and directly up to my face. My wings are out, my eyes are a solid white, and my mane is whipping about like it was caught in a hurricane. I make for a rather intimidating sight. She cowers, instinctively trying to make herself seem small and nonthreatening, as if that would somehow do any good.

I can identify on sight that none of her wounds have touched anything important, and that she's unlikely to bleed to death soon. Good.

"Answer my questions promptly and in full, and I may grant you a quick death. Fail to do so, and the consequences will be… most unpleasant," I say, with a rather wide grin.

Lady Rose shudders, then squeaks out a tiny "Yes, majesty."

"And be warned: I will know if you lie to me. You don't want to lie to me," I put a hoof under her chin and force her to look me in the eye. "Do you?"

"No, majesty," she manages.

"Why did you do it? Were you truly so stupid as to believe I would even consider wedding any spawn of yours if Shining were out of the way?"

She swallows. "Everything I did, I did for my children. Surely as a mother you can relate to-"

I slam her hard against the ceiling, then against the floor. She's bleeding all over now, and I think I may have broken one of her hind legs.

"You will not speak except to answer my questions, honestly and in full. I will not spare your life no matter what happens, so please cease your tiresome efforts to make me show you mercy."

She whimpers.

"Now, let's try another one. Who are your collaborators? I know that an earth pony like you isn't capable of casting the charm I found on my husband. Somepony had to cast it on you first. And I would bet they knew full well what they were doing."

Her eyes bulge and her mouth falls open, only to close itself quickly again. She pointedly says nothing.

"Doing this the hard way, then? Very well."

At my command, all the bones in her right rear leg shatter. Lady Rose Quartz screams in agony. She writhes helplessly in my grip, contorting and flailing uselessly at the magic binding her. It's no good. Even if I were to put her down, she's in no shape to make it far. She's completely powerless to fight – I am a god, and she an ordinary pony. I decide what happens here, not her.

"And that's hardly the worst I can do to you," I say when she's quieted a bit. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have your flesh set aflame, only to grow back as it burns? Or to be eaten slowly from the inside out, feeling every last bite? I can do that, you know. Or," I add with a particularly malicious look. "I could make you _love _me."

I can see from the puzzled expression on her face that she doesn't get the threat of the latter.

"My dear lady, have you ever wondered what it would be like to love a pony so much that you would willingly kill yourself so that they could have your corpse for a hoofstool? Because I can make that happen. Rip your very mind and will from your grip, and make you my utterly willing slave until the sheer presence of the magic in your head drives you mad." I give a predatory grin.

That's a bluff, by the way. My love magic doesn't work like that. It reminds ponies of what and why they loved something, and brings dormant emotions to the fore. I can't bring into existence what never existed, nor can I make a pony into my slave. But I'm willing to bet Lady Rose Quartz doesn't know that.

"No," she whimpers and pleads, waves of fear coming off of her. "Majesty… please… don't do that to me. Leave me my mind, at least."

I pull her up to my face and force her eyes to look directly into the glowing white pits that make up mine. "Then tell me," I growl, "What I want to know. Which ponies are helping you? Who cast that spell that let you do that to Shining?"

"Majesty…" she's openly weeping. "I… can't…"

"Yes. You. **CAN!**" I scream. I want _all _the traitors, not just this one.

"Please…" she begs me through her pathetic sobs.

"You have five seconds."

"It's somepony… very high up… I can't tell you…"

"Two seconds," I interject pitilessly.

"Majesty…"

"Time's up. One love-slave, coming right up." My horn begins to glow a bright pink, softly a first, but brightening by the second. I reiterate that I can't actually do what I'm threatening, but the sheer terror she has at the prospect of having her mind violated in such a manner is itself a useful tool.

"**NO!**" she wails, covering her head with her good legs. "I'll talk! I'll talk! Please!"

I let the glow in my horn fade. "Last chance. Name. Now."

"P-P-P" she stutters badly, failing into a mumble so low it's unintelligible even for me.

"What was that?"

"P-Pri-Pr-P" she mumbles again.

"I can't hear you!"

"P-Princess Celestia!"

What.


	9. Chapter 9

Celestia

When I hear the scream from the library, I suspect what has happened. When my niece's guards come to prematurely break up the ball, my theories are confirmed and dashed at the same time. I play the role of a good guest, allowing them to remove me from the palace without any undue fuss or raised voices. As the guards escort me back to the lovely little villa I've maintained as something of a vacation home here, they mention an assassination attempt on royalty, and that the princess was in a towering rage. What they do not mention is conspicuous by its absence: the death of their prince. In my experience, one should always assume a pony is alive until proven otherwise.

The guards apologetically inform me that we guests are not to be permitted exit from our domiciles until after the crisis has been dealt, on personal orders of Princess Cadence. I thank them politely for their efforts, fully acknowledging the irony of such, and ask them if they would mind staying away from my home for the next few hours. When they seem reluctant, I resort to suggestion spells. Slightly crude, perhaps, but I'd prefer no interference. These next few hours may, if my suspicions prove correct, be rather messy.

I only have a few servants here, most simply local ponies I employ to do basic upkeep and housework while I'm away. I don't need to fawned over half as much as some of my more sycophantic ponies back at Canterlot assume. I hunt down the head of my small staff here, a young pegasus mare by the name of Silver Wind. She's asleep in her bed when I find her, but a gentle shake fixes that.

"Huh… Wha…" she rubs her eyes. "Oh! Princess!" She jumps out with panic-tinged promptness and bows at my hooves. "How may I serve you?"

"You may rise," I intone, waiting for her to do so before speaking further. "Now, I have a very important task for you. Can I trust you to manage it for me?"

"Of course, your majesty! Anything you want." She's an eager servant, which is always helpful if occasionally tiresome.

"I want you to collect my entire villa staff," I say. "And get them out of here. Everypony needs to leave this home as quickly as they can. Tell everypony I do not want them anywhere near this place. Do not come back until I come for you personally. And do not ask questions."

"I," she bites her tongue, clearly resisting the urge to question the strange order. "Yes, your majesty."

I nod approvingly. "Good. Make haste now. I want to be alone in this place before five minutes have passed."

She bows. "Of course, your highness." With that, Silver Wind turns and scurries off to round up my employees.

Not having to do it personally will save me a bit of time. I give this situation decent odds of devolving into magical combat in short order, and I well remember what happened the last time an alicorn faced an alicorn in a building. Cadence is no Nightmare Moon, but then again this villa is no Castle of the Two Sisters.

Since my existing evidence does not point to Shining Armor being dead, I must assume he is alive. Therefore, I place a good probability on Cadence seeking the perpetrators as quickly and viciously as possible. I don't have long, I think. I should know if Lady Rose Quartz keeps her word when faced with my niece's wrath – probably not – and if she does give up my identity my niece will almost certainly come here to kill me.

There is still a small possibility that Cadence will kill the lady before prying answers from her or else simply not detect anything on Shining at all, but the way things seem to be going I'm not going to press my luck. I don't what's gone wrong, but I will be ready if I need to do battle. I double-check my wards. Like all my homes since my failure with Luna all those years ago, this one contains certain magics to advantage me in a fight.

When I'm certain that all my spells are in place, I check for my servants. They're gone. Good, that means I should be able to deal with whatever comes in private. I pour myself a cup of cold tea from a pitcher in the refrigerator – marvelous invention, we really should have thought of it sooner – and sit back in my own waiting room to, well, wait. I'll give it a few hours, and if nothing happens then it should be reasonably safe to invite my staff back-

Ah, there it is. My geas is going off. The good lady must have broken and blurted something she swore not to, then. She'll find herself missing a considerable chunk of her memory, and likely be executed shortly afterwards. I'd like to pop in to help, but honestly Lady Rose is almost certainly beyond my power to save. So I add another name to the long list of creatures whose deaths I've caused. It's to be another prick on my conscience, then.

Besides, to intervene wherever Cadence and Lady Rose are would just invite an alicorn duel in the city streets. I don't want the inevitable casualties of such a thing, or the bad publicity.

My niece and I will settle this here.

* * *

It doesn't take long for her to show up. Two minutes and thirteen seconds after I feel my geas being triggered, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza appears in the center of my rather elaborate imported Purrsian rug – and the runic circle carefully engraved on the floor underneath. I hardly need to be an alicorn myself to know that she's enraged: the glowing eyes, extending wings, and frantically swaying mane make that obvious to anypony.

Well, that and the fact that she's carrying a limp body with her.

"**CELESTIA!**" she screams at me in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

"Yes?"

Cadence roars incoherently as she flings the body she's holding at my head. I arrest the unguided missile's momentum easily enough. I take a quick glance at it, just enough to confirm what I already knew: this is Lady Rose Quartz, and she's dead. And it's my fault. I suppress a stab of guilt. I got her killed. Even if she wasn't a particularly good pony by any stretch of the imagination, she would never have done this without my prodding. Perhaps I'm slipping in my old age.

I set the body gently aside. When this is over, I promise I'll bury her and honor my commitments to her offspring. It's the least I can do.

"I take it that you are here to kill me, niece?" I ask. It's a formality, really, but I'd really rather not do what I'm about to do. But, unlike last time this sort of thing happened, I'm not going to shrink from battle.

She gives me a predatory smile. "Just like you tried to do to him, Auntie _dearest._"

I rise from where I have been sitting, on a rather pleasant sofa close to my fireplace and elevated above the sunken central pit where my niece stands atop my rug. "Are you sure you wish to do this? We can still talk like civilized ponies, you know. Even after all this you are still my-"

"**SHUT THE BUCK UP AND FIGHT ME YOU DOUBLE CROSSING WITCH!**" she shouts, loudly enough to rattle the room around us.

"Very well then." I state firmly even as I activate my first surprise.

Four runes, carved into my waiting room walls and parked behind artwork and furniture alike unleash four simultaneous strikes of lightning straight through their cover and into the pink alicorn. Cadence shrieks with agony as several hundred thousand volts of electricity course throughout her body. On anypony else, using all four of these would be a lethal degree of overkill. On an alicorn of her age, though, it's not enough.

My rug, tapestries, and a cabinet are on fire, but my niece only looks scorched. She does what any enraged alicorn would do and meets aggression with aggression. A lance of blue magic emerges from her horn and flings itself at my heart. My table and couch leap from the floor to intercept it, exploding violently and showering the room in fluff and splinters of wood.

I take several steps backwards, towards my door. My niece conjures dozens of lethally sharp daggers out of nothing, flinging them at me with wild abandon as she advances. A golden bubble wraps itself around me, and the blades clatter off harmlessly. I didn't even have to do anything – my jewelry isn't just ceremonial anymore. A flaming hunk of cabinet tears itself from the wall to rush at my face, only explode into sparks and splinters on contact with my barrier.

So far, Princess Cadence has been struck by a great deal of lightning and cast several spells. I have taken a few steps backwards. You can see where this is going?

My niece screams with frustration and conjures another spear of blue magic to fling at me. I vanish in a flash, and the spell blows a chunk out of the wall instead. Not as much as you would think, though – I reinforced these walls myself. I reappear within the doorway itself. Crystal shards clatter off my coat, but they aren't dangerous to the likes of me.

Cadence growls and vanishes as well, appearing again directly in front of my face. Quick as a flash, she levels her horn lets off a beam of magic wide enough to envelope the whole hallway in front of her, scorching tens of thousands of bits of precious artwork from the walls, incinerating the long, lush carpet, blowing out the door on the other end of the hall, and making a tremendous explosion inside my private library. But I'm not there.

My golden telekinetic aura lifts my niece from the ground and flings her straight into my fireplace – and another trap. A vicious jet of scorching blue flame comes out of the back, engulfing my niece completely. The screaming is horrible, and for a moment I want nothing more than to pull her out and hug her like I did when she was a filly herself. But I harden my heart to her suffering. She's brought it on herself.

She reappears behind me this time, and I hit the ceiling hard in her magical grip. It cracks under the force, but doesn't break. Good, this needs to stay indoors.

I teleport once again, this time reappearing some distance down the ruined hallway, by a half-melted door. I blast it open and vanish inside with a mocking smile on my face. My interior garden, with dozens of potted plants surrounding a fountain under a nigh-transparent roof, awaits me.

"**GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT, YOU COWARD!**" I hear my niece scream. I don't reply.

Seconds pass. I hear the sound of hoofsteps. Cadence appears by the door. I let loose a beam of golden magic right at her. It… passes through, and my niece wavers and vanishes. An illusion.

Something impacts hard on my side, and I hit the wall hard headfirst hard enough to crack it and daze even me.

I blink. Cadence is across the room. She looks horrible, with her beautiful multicolored mane burnt down to almost nothing, her coat scorched and even burnt all the way off in some areas, and her golden regalia half-melted and fused with her coat in patches. But she's wearing a triumphant expression as her horn charges up another beam.

Then a branch wraps itself around the horn.

I grin as Cadence is yanked from her hooves and tossed into the fountain by a suddenly gigantic plant golem pulling itself from the shattered remains of its former pot. A half dozen others have joined it, and they advance on her. My niece growls and pushes back onto her hooves, now dripping wet in addition to everything else. She fails to notice the water rapidly taking shape underneath her.

Dozens of watery tentacles spring out from my fountain, wrapping themselves about the pink alicorn's torso, neck, hooves, legs, wings, muzzle, and horn. She struggles and flails in their grip, but my golems are on her. They punch, kick, and pound my niece with dozens of assorted wooden limbs. I can see her legs starting to buckle under the strain. Just a little more…

"**ENOUGH!**" she roars. A pink bubble takes shape at the end of her horn, then fills out more faster than thought. My golems, my enchanted water, my exquisite crystal fountain, my plants, and everything else in the room are blown to pieces by the sheer force of the spell. Dust and pieces of crystal, wood, and leaves rain down throughout the garden.

But I'm not there either.

I materialize in the doorway in a burst of golden light. Cadence stares at me, breathing heavily. "Awww, what's the matter?" I ask in a mockingly singsong tone. "Are you feeling bad? Does little Cady want to take a break?" I don't particularly enjoy brandying insults with a pony I love, but the more mindlessly aggressive she gets the more quickly I can end this.

My niece just growls at me like some feral beast.

"Give it up, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," I say, my voice becoming deadly serious. "You can't win here. Now I suggest that-"

She disappears yet again in a flash of blue reappearing directly in front of me with her back to me. Then she double-kicks me right in the chin.

I go flying off my hooves and smash my head into the opposite wall in the hallway outside. Or, more accurately, I smash my head straight through said wall. Damn, that hurts.

A blue aura surrounds my body as I'm yanked right back out and pulled back into the ruined garden room. Cadence smashes me against the ceiling, then floor, then ceiling, then floor again while I'm too dazed to conjure a counterspell. I'm going to have one hell of a headache when this is over.

Cadence slams me down directly in front of her, a wild smile covering her lovely face. Her horn glows a bright blue. Mine lights up with gold. She unleashes another beam of destructive magic at me. I do the same right back at her.

Blue and gold meet in the air between we two alicorn princesses. Cadence grits her teeth and pushes down hard against me, channeling all her fury towards my destruction. I narrow my eyes and call on the deep reserves of magic I have inside me. For a moment, time seems to freeze. The two beams are locked in place, both pushing against the other with all their might but neither making any headway.

Then, suddenly, it's over.

Gold pushes through blue faster than blinking. My niece goes flying straight through a wall, her body pulverizing a long dining table on the other side. I teleport into yet another ruined room, grabbing my niece in my own telekinesis. She hits the ceiling, then floor, then ceiling again. I hold her still at point blank range and let loose with a burst of golden lightning.

Cadence screams and writhes as magical electricity permeates her body. The sheer heat of it melts the last of her jewelry, globes of molten gold hitting the carpet or fusing with her pink coat. Her muscles twitch and spasm wildly as her nerves go haywire. I harden my heart to her wails and press the assault for several more seconds.

Finally, when she's on the verge of losing consciousness, I stop. Her scorched, smoking body tumbles to the floor in a heap as I release my magical grip on it. She moans weakly, unable to even open her eyes.

I place a hoof on her chest. Firmly, but not enough to cause more damage. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," I say in my best commanding tone. "You are beaten. But I, Princess Celestia, Sol Invictus, will show you mercy." I withdraw my hoof. "In spite of your deeds, I am still willing to talk to…"

Cadence's eyes crack open and she… grins at me? That makes no sense, she's on the verge of passing out from her injuries, she surely can't mean to continue-

My eyes dart to her horn. It's glowing pink.

I realize what she's doing. I have to-

Feelings wash over me as my body is enveloped in a pink glow. What in Tartarus am I doing?! This is my _niece_! My little Cady! The alicorn I've been proud to nurture and call family since the day she ascended!

A pink-colored hoof connects with my face. I tumble over onto my back.

I remember the day I first saw the shocked pink pegasus in that otherworldly realm. I remember calming her fears and explaining what she had done.

Another hoof drives deep into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me, for all that I don't technically need it.

I remember when I first suggested she take up foalsitting to spend some time away from the palace. I remember her telling me stories all about sweet little Twilight Sparkle and her wonderful big brother Shining Armor.

My limp form is seized in wavering blue telekinesis and hurled forcefully through the dining room door, snapping the exquisitely-carved crystal in two.

I remember when Cadence first blushingly confided in me a "little crush" on one of my Royal Guard recruits. I remember smiling when she told me who it was.

Twin pink hooves impact on my chest again. I think I can feel a rib cracking.

I remember watching from an upstairs window when Shining Armor arrived to take Cadence out on their first date. I remember fondly giggling with my niece when she told me how adorably, earnestly awkward the colt was.

I'm lifted by magic again and thrown back down the hall, into the waiting room where this whole fight began. Most everything not made of crystal is on fire now.

I remember the day Cadence came to me with such wide smile on her face that I was seriously worried she might hurt herself. I remember her describing his proposal.

A pink alicorn appears above me, a blue glow about her horn. I'm blasted with a magical beam, and I smash into burning furniture. The fire doesn't hurt me.

I remember the utter failure I felt when I was sealed in Chrysalis' green cocoon. I remember the profound sense of pride and joy I felt when the two of them blasted the bug queen and her minions beyond the horizon together.

I'm seized again by the maniacally grinning pink alicorn and thrown into the ceiling. I see flecks of crystal coming off from it.

I remember seeing the look in her eyes when I performed their ceremony. I remember the proud tears and giant smile on her face during Twilight's coronation.

My aching slams down onto the floor, where the pink alicorn waits to punch me in the face with her hoof. This hurts, I don't think I can do this too much longer.

I remember-

No.

I remember-

_No._

I… remember…

**NO!**

I scream with rage as I throw off the love magic. I am Princess Celestia. Daughter to King Solaris and Queen Gaia. Sister to Princess Luna. Diarch of Equestria. Sol Invictus. Sun Incarnate. Protector of the Realm.

And I will _not _be controlled by an immature, self-centered witch of an alicorn. Not even if she's family.

My eyes glow white with sheer magical power. My wings spread wide, long white feathers seeming to grow pointed. My mane's multicolored rainbow hue disappears under fiery blaze of the sun. The air around me shimmers with heat, the fires in the room springing up twice as high under my power.

Cadence's grin vanishes. The alicorn of love, for the first time in a very long time, looks fearful. She should be.

A burst of golden flame envelopes my niece. She screams pitifully, giving voice to her suffering as she experiences hereto unimagined depths of pain. The flame merely takes the opportunity to invade her mouth, burning her inside as well as out. She writhes and flails, lashing out with what magic she has left, but it's no good. I have her now, and she is going nowhere until _I_ say so.

It couldn't have lasted more than ten seconds. She wouldn't have survived longer than that. But to me, it feels like an eternity.

I drop my char-broiled niece onto the tile at my hooves. Her lovely pink coat, except in very small patches, has been burned away. Her mane is completely gone. Her jewelry has melted off of her skin altogether. And her skin, normally a pale pink, is now a deep charcoal black. She's smoking all over, and smells of burnt hair.

Cadence gives the faintest of moans. It's all she can manage.

I let my righteous anger fade, my eyes and mane losing their glow. I tuck my wings back into resting position. My face, just moments before that of a wrathful sun goddess, becomes one of a tired old mare. I pause to catch my breath, more out of instinct than need.

"_You,_" I pick Cadence up gently in my golden magic. "Are going to sit down and have a talk with Auntie."


	10. Chapter 10

Celestia

"Would you care for some tea?" I ask my niece in what I consider a very civil tone, especially considering the circumstances. We're in the kitchen, one of the few rooms not to have been destroyed beyond repair, and I'm pouring myself a cup. Some might think it an inappropriate time, but I find that a good brew always helps me to keep a level head. Plus, I just enjoy the flavor.

Cadence lets out a low moan from where she floats, held secure by my magic. You might think I'm showing an alarming lack of concern for her, but she's an alicorn, like myself. She won't perish of these injuries. In fact, if my calculations are correct within a few hours her body should have regenerated itself, albeit at a significant cost in magic.

In the meantime, we're going to deal with this issue, here and now. I've had enough of games. I like to think of myself as a mother to my little ponies, and part of being a mother is a duty to scold wayward foals.

Cadence moans again, this time slightly different.

"No? Suit yourself." I put away the cup I had pulled out for my niece.

Cadence grumbles something.

"Language, dear. Did all those protocol lessons go to waste?"

Cadence groans.

"Very well then." I finish pouring my own cup of tea and take a sip. The cool liquid feels nice as it slides down my throat.

With a flash of golden light, my niece and I vanish from my kitchen and reappear in my bedroom. I lay her down gently on my oversized bed before tapping her throat with my horn. I release just a tad of healing magic into her system to repair the burns I inflicted when I sent my flames into her mouth and down her esophagus and trachea. Her larynx and respiratory system, already regenerating at an unnaturally fast pace, repair themselves almost to normal levels. She should be able to speak again.

What? You think burning my niece's insides was cruel? Overkill? Not really. Alicorns, alone among pony subspecies, have the ability to fuel our vital processes solely with magic. It's why we don't technically need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. Though in any medical sense her body should be dead, it's essentially forcing itself to not only live, but heal as well, by consuming vast quantities of her natural magic. Her body will recover soon, though her magic may be reduced for some time to come.

At any rate, she's in no condition to flee or to fight me, which makes talking to this selfish foal much easier. Maybe I can even make her see some sense.

"Better?" I ask, once I think I've repaired her systems enough.

"Go to… Tartarus," she manages.

I roll my eyes. So cliché. I wonder if she got that line from a movie. No matter.

"Now," I sit back in chair beside my bed and take another sip of tea. "I find myself in a rather unfortunate predicament."

"Why the… buck… you think… I care?"

"Because the predicament revolves around yourself and your husband." I take another sip. "You see, believe it or not, my interest is primarily in avoiding unnecessary bloodshed."

She coughs. "Liar."

"You know what I'm talking about. Your husband is walking beacon of dark magic, and continues to be for every second he is alive."

"Not… alive. You… killed him," she wheezes.

I raise an eyebrow. "I realize that it is thought admirable to bluff to protect your loved one, Mi Amore Cadenza, but the unfortunate fact is that you've already admitted to me that he yet lives."

"You… lie…"

"Oh? Does this sound familiar?" I cast a spell on myself to make my voice that of my niece. "Just like you tried to do to him, Auntie _dearest_."

"… Damn."

"I can remember things, niece. Just because I'm old doesn't mean I can't put two and two together anymore. That you called my attempt "trying" implies that it did not succeed. Shining Armor is still alive."

"What… do you… want?"

"The same thing I've always wanted, my niece: I want to protect the ponies. Your husband is a danger to them, and remains so for every second that he remains alive. So I took measures to rectify the situation." I sigh. "In retrospect, I admit that this wasn't my best plan ever. I was moved too much by sentiment to make the liquidation of my former captain as quick and painless as possible to spend enough energy properly covering my tracks. A failure I shall I have to learn from."

"You… won't… touch him." Her limbs quiver slightly, then collapse again.

"Mi Amore, you are no shape to fight me. Please refrain from futile gestures. They make for good stories but poor life policy." I take a sip of tea.

"If you… kill him… will be… war," she manages, still unable to crack open her eyes.

"Indeed? And did you consider what would happen if you had succeeded in your earlier attempt to kill me?"

Her silence is deafening.

I smile slightly and sip more tea. "Now, part of my problem is this: from where I'm standing, there is little option to avoid some kind of war. If I terminate Captain Armor, there will be war. However, I let him go, not only will the dark magic remain, but you are likely to seek revenge, almost certainly resulting in some fool war with me." I take another drink. I'm going through this cup pretty quickly. "As I would prefer that Equestria and the Crystal Empire do not fight a prolonged war, it seems to me that the best way to minimize the bloodshed would be to execute you, execute your husband, and personally take this city with my sister. Yes, some will inevitably die, and many will hate me for the remainder of their mortal lives, but all but the most foolish will submit with their rulers eliminated and a pair of goddesses breathing down their necks." I sigh wearily. "I don't particularly enjoy the idea of that option, as it comes at the cost of the lives of, at minimum, several dozen ponies. Two of them being my family. And of course, my student will be permanently alienated from me. Twilight would never forgive me for liquidating her brother and her foalsitter. And then the very action of taking over an empire will force me to put off some of my diplomatic maneuvering for an entire generation or more. I'll have the warrior-princess reputation again, not the peacemaker identity I need right now. So this would truly be a suboptimal solution."

"You… scum…"

I shake my head. "No. Just a concerned ruler who doesn't place her emotions over the well-being of her subjects. I have many wicked deeds on my conscience already. I feel that I can endure a few more, if need be." I drain the last of my tea and set the cup aside. "However, this would come at a particularly deep price for me. Therefore, I am giving you the chance to try and talk me out of it."

"Not your… subjects… My… jurisdiction..."

"I thought I'd told you before, Cadence. We are alicorns. Whatever the temporary laws of mortals may say, our jurisdiction is universal. Whether or not the Crystal Empire technically falls under your domain, I think of these ponies as every bit as much my own as those of Equestria, and I will not tolerate a continued threat to them." I pause. "And I think you'll find the practical realities to be very much weighted in my favor. I'm rather in a position to dictate conqueror's terms."

"Thought we… settled this… way back…"

"No, we did not "settle this". You angrily declared that the combined power of your mutual love magic and the Crystal Heart would be more than adequate to see off anything your husband's beacon might draw, declared that the matter did not fall under my authority in the first place, and then stormed out of our meeting in a huff." I get to my hooves as a craving hits me. "Excuse me for a moment, niece. I'm going to go get some more tea and bit of cake. Would you care for anything?"

Cadence just hisses at me.

I sigh wearily. "Very well then. I shall give you a moment to think up a reason why I shouldn't take the path I've already outlined. Yes, it would come at a heavy price for me personally, but I'm willing to endure to see the Empire continued prosperity. But I would still like a better solution. See if you can come up with one."

I wrap the room in a spell to ward off teleportation, just in case, before walking down to my kitchen and retrieving another glass of chilled tea and some angel food cake from my refrigerator. I like my little indulgences when I'm feeling particularly worn or stretched. Some ponies call the habit unhealthy, but I don't think I'd have gotten through certain points in my long lifetime without a bit of stress eating. Besides, it gives my niece time to come up with an argument to stay their execution, which I admit I want more than anything else right now.

When I return to my bedroom a few minutes later, I find my niece still lying helplessly on my bed. However, she's managed to crack her eyes open, and I can see that a few patches of blackened skin have returned to their natural baby pink. I don't think it will be long before the first hairs on my niece's coat begin to come back.

"So," I ask, hoping and praying for a different answer than what I'm expecting. "Have you come up with a reason I shouldn't kill you both and take your kingdom myself?" Please, please, my little pony, surprise me.

"Shining's beacon doesn't… have to be… forever…" she manages in a wheezing tone.

I raise an eyebrow and take a nibble of cake. Dare I to hope that my niece is finally maturing? "You mean that you are ready to let him go? After all this time, you're seeing sense."

She shakes her head as vigorously as she can, which in her current state amounts to a barely-perceptible quiver. " No… Can make it… go away… Just need… time..."

I sigh. I was hoping for more, or at least a better lie. "Cadence, you and I both know that dark magic is all that binds his soul to that abomination of a body you constructed for him. To dispel it is to kill him, and you know it. No other magic contains lore for violating a soul like that." I close my eyes and take another long drink of tea, readying my mind. It seems that I shall have to execute my niece after all, the way things are going, and I'll need as much mental fortitude as I can-

"I have… a plan… Can… show you..."

I raise a skeptical eyebrow. "Indeed?"

"Swear it… no tricks…"

I look into her eyes. I don't have the naturally heightened sense of empathy that my niece is blessed with, but I do have a lot of practice reading a pony, especially one I've known for such a long time. She meets my gaze head on. We stare into each other's eyes for some time before I finally break the contact.

"Show me."

* * *

Cadence

Celestia – I can't bring myself to think of her as Auntie, not anymore – and I appear with a golden flash in a dark cavern, deep under the city. I'm still barely capable of moving my head, much less walking, so Celestia has me in her magical grip.

"Over… there…" I manage to wheeze out. Gods, my voice sounds horrible. "Illusion… on the wall…"

Celestia's horn shoots out a wide cone of golden light, looking more like a lighthouse than anything else. It sweeps over the cavern wall in a circle. A wide piece of "rock" shimmers and dissolves away into nothingness, revealing a hole and a tunnel beyond.

"Watch the floor… jinxes and hexes…" I breath heavily at even this slightest exertion, my body frantically eating up all my energy to repair itself to functionality. I'll be lucky if I can cast more than the simplest of spells for weeks. I may even have to tap into the Crystal Heart for a power boost.

Celestia unceremoniously blasts the floor in the tunnel entrance and sweeps inwards, vaporizing the runic glyphs I'd carved in for protection's sake. As the dust settles, hard stepping sounds begin to come from within the tunnel, heading this way. Celestia looks at me and raises an eyebrew.

"Crystal golems… guardians…" Hot damn I'm already sick of speaking like this

When the first of the pony-shaped crystal statues I animated rounds a bend and comes into view, Celestia takes a single shot at it with a lance of gold magic. It explodes into tiny fragments without even getting to do a damn thing. The next one, too mindless to know fear and set on its duty, rounds the corner to face the intruder without even the slightest hesitate. It too is unceremoniously blasted to tiny shards of crystal by the white alicorn.

She waits and listens for a moment before speaking again. "Just two?"

"Yes…" I whisper, feeling embarrassed by the comparative paucity of my defenses when measured against what she had in her home.

"Anything else I should know about?"

"Ceiling… just before main… cavern… powerful curse…" I gasp out.

"And that's all?"

"Correct…"

"Very well then."

Celestia walks through the tunnel in silence, carrying my limp form behind her. She blasts the ceiling to rubble when we near the tunnel's end, and simply makes the resultant rubble vanish in a blink. With all its defenses swept aside like insects, Celestia steps out into my laboratory. It's the same as ever, with bookshelves and potion wracks and chemistry sets and scientific equipment scattered throughout the mid-sized cavern.

"So…" she says, taking the place in with a sweep of her head. "You have a secret laboratory, rather like some mad scientist in a cliché horror movie. What precisely are you attempting to do in this place?"

"Make… an alicorn…" I wheeze out.

Celestia an eyebrow.

"A body… for Shiny…" I explain. "Dark magic… needed to hold a soul… to a golem… but not… to a soulless body… if they accept it…"

"You are attempting to create a soulless alicorn form for your husband to inhabit. And you didn't tell me about this… why?"

"Was afraid… you might stop it…"

"And you choose to reveal it now, because…"

"You'll kill… Shiny… if I don't… please…"

"I see," she nods imperiously, before walking amongst the bookshelves and potion racks. She pauses by the twin unicorn corpses, kept safely preserved by my spells. "Where did you get these, niece?"

"Stole them… from a university… Bodies… donated to science…"

Celestia checks the cadavers over for a tense minute, and for a few seconds I fear she doesn't believe me, believes that I murdered them or something. But then she nods in apparent acceptance and moves on. She pauses by my cell cultures, reading the labels over carefully. She picks a few binders, apparently at random, from the shelf and checks them over.

"You have Sombra's old notes down here," she observes as she flicks through the sheets of paper.

"He knew… a lot… whatever else he was…"

"Hmmm, I see." She returns my binders to their shelf and continues her impromptu tour of my facility. When she finally comes into view of the alicorn skeleton, I brace for the worst, wishing for all the world I could teleport so that I could grab Shiny and run to the edge of the earth. Her eyes go wide, then narrow. I can see a tear escaping them.

"Niece, could you kindly explain why you have my cousin's bones in display cabinet?"

"Your… cousin?" I manage, surprised. I didn't know she was related. Granted, the alicorn community was never very large even at its height, but…

"The daughter of my mother's sister. Her name was Elysium. She was, as far as I know, the last alicorn filly ever to be born," Celestia says in a mournful tone. "I helped to raise her, when all our parents went to battle Discord and left us with caretakers. They never came back." Another tear trickles down her face. "When she was murdered… it hurt. But I never found out what had become of her body."

"Found it… down here…"

"Hmmm?" Celestia looks at me quizzically. "You aren't the first to use this place, are you?"

"No…" I reply weakly, dreading what is surely coming next.

"This was King Sombra's laboratory first, wasn't it?"

"Yes…"

"This is where you found the lore Twilight used to preserve Shining Armor, isn't it?"

"Yes…" I'm too exhausted to even think up a lie.

"I see," she says again. She seems to love that phrase. She looks at the other alicorn's bones again. "Why do you keep them here?"

"Think… they might be useful… in creating… a body…"

"Hmmm… very well."

"What?" She's just _dismissing _the fact that I've desecrated her own family's bones? I realized that she was cold blooded when she tried to kill Shining behind my back, but damn.

"The dead are dead, Mi Amore Cadenza," she says with a harsh look in her eyes. "And they have no further need of their bodies. If they can be used to better serve the living, so be it."

Wow, that's pretty cold.

Wait. "Better serve the living"? Does that mean…

"I have reached a decision, niece," Celestia's voice cuts into my thoughts.

"Go on…" I prod. "Listening…."

"I have decided to pardon you for your murder and attempted murder. Further, I will give you more time to pursue this research. I feel it may be worthwhile if it should bear fruit. However," her voices becomes harder than steel. "There are conditions to my mercy."

"Name them…" I'll say anything, do anything if it stops this traitorous witch from killing Shiny.

"First: I will expect an accurate summary of your results thus far, along with regular updates on the status of your research."

"Done…" I say, without hesitation.

"Secondly: You will tell nopony of what passed between us this night. Ever, under any circumstances. The public must never know that such close allies as Equestria and the Crystal Empire nearly came to war and regicide."

Only because you started it, witch.

On the outside, I nod. "What about… breaking up the ball… Lockdown?" I pause for breath. "What do we… tell them?"

"Simplicity itself. We already have a dead noblepony to pin the whole thing on. We announce that Lady Rose Quartz committed treason against the Crystal Empire and attempted regicide out of spite and ambition. You merely executed the due penalty for such crimes, with my help. Naturally, she was working alone."

"You think… they'll buy that?"

Celestia smiles knowingly. "My dear niece. Have you not noticed that most everypony is inclined to believe anything an alicorn princess tells them? With two telling the same story? Only the usual conspiracy fools will even doubt it for a second." Her smile drops. "To the public, Lady Quartz was a traitor, and she tried to kill her prince. That is all they need to know."

That's ruthless, Celestia. She was your mare the whole time, and you're going to besmirch her name after she died in your service? You are frigid as the northern ice.

A thought comes to mind. "What of… her children?" Even after all that she did to me, I don't want to harm two innocents for the crime of being born to the wrong mother.

"I will see to their safe and anonymous exit from the Empire. I have a place for them in Canterlot. It will not replace their mother, but her death will secure her family's future, just as she would have wanted."

"I…agree…" I manage. My breathing is hard again from all this talking.

"Excellent," Celestia smiles again. "Thirdly," her face goes deadly serious and she leans in close to mine. "If you should succeed in your plan, you must agree to bear foals again. _Alicorn_ foals. Many of them."

"Alright…"

"And you must agree to send them _all_ to me for training. Every. Single. One." Our faces are practically touching, and her eyes flicker back and forth between the usual purple and solid white. "Agreed?"

I hesitate. She's essentially asking me to sell my future children to her like some… _commodity_.

"… Niece?" her tone is fierce, something like sound of a damn holding back a massive flood. "What say you?"

If it will save Shiny…

I manage a weak wheeze that should have been a sigh. "…Agreed."

I've just promised my children to the very mare who tried to murder their would-be father. I feel sick inside.

"Finally, niece, remember that is a time-limited pardon. Your introduction of the… potential benefits of your actions changes my assessment of the situation, but the other facts remain unchanged. Shining Armor's existence is a continuing danger to the citizenry of the Crystal Empire, and I will not permit it to remain so forever. You have convinced me to forestall his termination… but no more. I will watching you very carefully, Mi Amore Cadenza. I will be reading your reports. I expect to see progress. If I judge you cannot succeed… or you try to break our agreement…" She trails off. She doesn't need to say any more. "Now," she gets back in my face. "Do we have a deal?"

"We… do…"

She touches her horn to mine, and it alights with magic. "Swear it."

"I… swear…

"Do you, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire, swear in the presence of all the gods, love, friendship, and magic itself to faithfully follow the conditions I have given you for your reprieve? Do you swear to faithfully send me all accurate information from your endeavors, to keep secret our conflict from all for all eternity, and to bear alicorn children that I may train? Do you so swear?"

"I… so swear." I can't believe what I'm doing.

Celestia's horn glows a deep, dark green as runes trail from it and wrap themselves about my own horn. I can feel the geas permeating me, attaching itself parasitically to my magic and binding me to obey my oath. It feels like slimy tentacles are writhing around inside my brain, but there's nothing I could do to stop them now even if I tried.

The spell takes several seconds to cast. Celestia's horn emits tendril after tendril of green runes that bind themselves about my body and mind. But eventually, the small ritual is over, and the geas is firmly placed around me. I don't know what the specific penalty is for breaking it, but judging from the way it felt in my brain, I'll lose a good portion of my mind, if not all of it.

"It is done," Celestia says.


	11. Chapter 11

Cadence

Celestia has what she wants now. She has my husband, my kingdom, and even my as-yet hypothetical future foals right where she wants them. And I have to back up her story, or else suffer an unidentified penalty from the geas, followed by whatever her mind can cook up. As I've heard some of my guards put it: she has me by the (metaphorical) balls.

It wouldn't do for anypony to wonder why their princess looks like she's been grilled for some barbaric griffon meat dish gone horribly wrong. I suppose that's why Celestia taps my horn with hers and feeds my body some healing magic. In minutes, I can feel my skin losing its burns and rejecting the metal from my ruined jewelry. My pink coat grows back in, along with my multicolored, flowing mane. My insides still feel sore as new tissue replaces the old, burnt stuff. Even for an alicorn, this is very fast healing. I wonder where Celestia learnt a spell like that? And why she never taught it to me. My guess, judging I've learned of my adoptive aunt in the last few hours, would be to give herself another unexpected advantage. Just in case.

When it's done, I'm superficially returned to my normal self, albeit completely lacking in the regalia department. On the inside, I can feel that my natural magic is almost entirely depleted. I'd compare unfavorably to an above-average unicorn right now, and probably will for weeks. I'm certainly in no position to try and fight, and I'm betting Celestia knows as much.

When my healing is done, Celestia returns us to my chambers without another word.

"SHINY!" I cry when I see him still in our bed, soundly out. I can't help it – it's such a relief to see that he's still with me, even after all this. I rush over and embrace my husband, planting a kiss on his cheeks and trying to ignore the white alicorn in the background.

Buck Celestia, I'm having a personal moment.

"Ugh… Cadence?" Shining's voice is weak and whispy, but it's never sounded better to my ears. One of his eyes cracks open just slightly. "What… happened? Where… where…" He trails off, clearly not recovered from his near-death earlier this evening.

"Shhhhh…" I whisper gently, planting another kiss on his forehead. "It's alright. You're alright. There was an… incident, but everpony's alright. I'll tell you more later." I pull the covers up over him with my mouth, even though I'm aware that it doesn't do any more than sentimental good, if even that. I stroke his mane. "We'll make it through this, you and me. Together, as always." I kiss him on the forehead. "You and me, my prince. Together forever."

"Mmmmm…" he mumbles, his eyes fluttering closed again. "I like that."

I smile.

* * *

In the interests of objectivity, I must note that whatever else she may be, Celestia's insights on the ordinary pony appear to be right on the money, cynical as they are. She and I have only to trot out of my quarters (in fresh jewelry in my case, naturally) and start giving orders, and my guards scramble to obey. In spite of my… harsh treatment of them earlier this evening, I don't sense any ill-will from them towards me. In fact, they seem more concerned for my health than anything else.

That's sweet, really.

Not even the fact that I admit outright to an effectively extrajudicial execution of a noble seems to sway their confidence in me. I mean, sure, as princess I do technically have the right to pass judgment on just about anything, but you'd think with the Crystal Empire's history the ponies would be a bit more wary of that sort of thing in their leaders. But I suppose that's an immortal talking; to these ponies the events of Sombra's reign are but a distant thing that happened centuries ago to somepony else in textbooks. All this generation has known is peace under our rule, and they haven't the slightest suspicion of the purity and justice of my actions. They trust me, completely and utterly.

And I'm lying to their faces. To protect a would-be murderer.

I am a despicable pony.

I order a formal end to the hours-long lockdown. It shouldn't have been too disruptive – at least, I hope not. The delegates can come out of their assorted quarters now, though most are probably asleep by this time. I'm sure I'll have plenty of complaints to deal with, come the morning. Maybe there will even be an invitation to an honor duel for the "insult" of making them stay where I could find them during a regicide investigation. I don't like to send champions to such things, but under current circumstances I suppose I might not have a choice.

Celestia sticks to me the whole time I see to the Crystal Empire's demobilization. I suppose she wants to be sure that I don't try anything more. Or perhaps she's simply eager to reinforce the official story: that she helped me to track down the would-be murderess at my request and personally witnessed the execution. Either way, she has that benevolent smile back on her face and says little when not directly asked, apparently content to leave the talking to me. She looks as beautiful and serene as she ever did, but after tonight I don't believe I'll ever be able to look at her the same way again.

* * *

Celestia

The final day of the week-long World Forum of Peace and Cooperation is, at least in comparison to the events that preceded it, rather tame. There is some pleasant music, another carnival, more speeches, a farewell dinner, and finally a concluding nighttime spectacular put on by my very dear little sister.

I confess, Luna has outdone herself this time. Not content with merely arranging for a full moon ahead of schedule and a cloudless night, she saw fit to even temporarily rearrange the constellations for this one night. A meteor shower, coupled with fireworks and full-blown musical accompaniment makes this show a treat the likes of which I haven't seen in many, many years. There's a serene smile plastered on my face as I look on at her display from the elite box reserved for only the highest of royalty.

But my mind is elsewhere.

I feel a bit guilty for mostly tuning out my sister's hard work. But I feel much, much worse for what's happened. I love my niece. I love my nephew. I truly do. I know it may sound difficult to believe after what I've done, but that is the honest to gods truth of the matter. I've watched them grow from little ones to ancients under my care, and I remember well every step of the way. Attempting to be rid of Shining Armor… was no easy decision. I put it off for hundreds of years before trying, and even then I allowed my sentiment to make me sloppy in the execution.

And now I've broken a very dear relationship forever.

Cadence hates me. I know it. I can see it in the subtle glares she gives me when she thinks I'm not looking at her; hear it in the slightly forced sound of her politeness when we speak in each other's presence. But, more than anything, I can see it in the way she goes out of her way to place herself between Shining Armor – barely able to walk, but still managed to attend today's festivities – and myself whenever we are near to one another. I don't know if she's doing it unconsciously or if she actually believes that there is a chance that I will publically attack her beloved, but either way the message is quite clear.

Whether or not you believe it, I know well what it feels like to be hated. It's not something I teach in my nation's schools, but more than one pony has died cursing my name on their lips. Rebel generals, scheming politicians, and the occasional unfortunate innocent have all died by my hoof over the millennia. By my latest count, including Lady Rose Quartz, the number stands at exactly seven thousand five hundred and twenty eight sapient creatures of all kinds, from dragons to gryphons to minotaurs to unicorns. All dead by my will or actions over the course of my twelve thousand eight hundred sixty seven years, three months, one week, and two days of life. All had family, friends, and supporters. And, if they did not hate me, it was because they knew not from whence their deaths came.

But hatred is so much harder to bear when it comes from within your own family. Believe me, I know that as well. Luna, dear sweet little sister of mine, came to hate and resent me so much that she embraced dark magic to give her the power to overthrow me. And I was blind, expecting her to be as dutiful as I was, right up until she got in my face and declared her intentions. Even then, foolish sentiment overwhelmed my reason and I fled rather than fight, only to be struck down. Had little sister not been overcome by the sheer thrill of victory, had she shown elementary caution in assuring that I was truly slain, the world would have come to an end that very night, freezing and starving under Nightmare Moon's unfeeling gaze. It was the hardest thing I ever did, but for a goddess duty must come before all else, even family. I banished little Luna, uncertain of whether I would ever even see her again. While that worked out for the best, thanks to dear Twilight and her wonderful friends, a hair's breadth is not a margin the fate of the world should ever hang by. If I hadn't learned it before that night, then my banishment of Nightmare Moon taught me the importance of doing what must be done, no matter what my heart may have to say about it.

I am glad that no more bloodshed was required to end this. Cadence gave me an out, and I took it. With any luck, I will not need to return to finish the job. Shining Armor will remain unharmed and ignorant, and Cadence may hate me for all eternity. I will bear it. I merely hope that, in a thousand years, when she sees the good I will do, that she will at least comprehend my reasons even if she does not forgive me.

If Cadence's attempt succeeds… it could be just the answer I've been searching for. I am one of the strongest beings alive, but even I cannot be everywhere at once. There are many nations beyond Equestria, and many leaders. Mortal governments rise and fall in such short spans of years, and they often find it advantageous to their petty, short-term aims to pursue bloody warfare against one another. The foolishness that comes from a short-sighted perspective seemingly inherent to mortal life.

I glance at Cadence, sitting beside me, and Shining Armor beyond her. I recall her threats from earlier. Perhaps the foolishness is shared by even some alicorns.

I feel a bit like some baby snatcher, forcing her to promise me any future foals the two conceive, but it is for the greater benefit of the world. Indeed, it is a chance to do even more good for all the living things of our planet than almost anything even I have done in a very long time. If. If they're properly trained, brought up to think rightly…

Imagine it, if you will. An alicorn advisor in every government of every nation in the world. A demigod to serve the rulers, personally tutored in politics and magic by the greatest and oldest of their kind. A gift of goodwill from Sol Invictus herself. Who could resist the advantages that would bring? Yes, they will at first be feared and spurned and hated as outsiders. Only the most ruthless and pragmatic or simply desperate will make use of them. At first.

But we are alicorns. We are immortal. Whether it takes one generation or ten for the foals to be accepted does not matter. When they are, whether out of a genuine comradery or simple greedy pragmatism, they will come to rule those nations. Whether in name or not, it is inevitable that an alicorn will come to dominate all that is around it unless restrained by an older, more powerful being. Such is our nature, such is our power, and such is our responsibility.

When all the nations of the world come to embrace the leadership of these right-thinking alicorns… when what was lost so long ago comes again… there will be no further need of war. No further need for blood-feuds and petty conquests fueled by greed. No more inane politicking with short-lived beings thoroughly convinced of their own trifling importance. Merely practical management of the world and all its peoples by benevolent demigods. Perhaps then I shall finally be able to cease these repulsive backroom deals and knives in the darkness. Or maybe that is too optimistic a projection.

But when I have my alicorns… when the legacy of petty mortal rule is banished to the dusty tomes of history… then, I know, we shall have peace.

So hate me, if you would, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. It will be my burden to bear. But give me what I want, and I will hold nothing against you.

After all, it is for the greater good.

* * *

Cadence

I watch my adoptive aunt – for almost all my life my mother figure, now my enemy – out of the corner of my eye. Celestia just sits there, staring up at Auntie Luna's show. I don't think my other auntie knows what I know. I'm certain little Twilight doesn't. She still has that innocent gleam in her eyes, the sense of utter devotion to her teacher that she had when she was a little unicorn filly. I know her too well to imagine it would still be there if she knew how close her beloved BBBFF had come to death.

Poor dear. It would be hard to tell her, even if I weren't unavoidably compelled not to. I hate to crush innocence.

Celestia still has her serene, benevolent, motherly smile stuck on her face. When I was young, that smile comforted me. When I became an adult and a true princess, it was model to follow. Now it just seems a hollow mockery to me.

How dare that witch think herself in the right?! After all she taught me about the importance of friendship, how dare she betray her friends like that? After all she taught me about the magic of love; she tries to have mine kill himself when she thinks him a danger!

Now her little smile just makes me angry. It's a symbol of her treachery, her two-faced murderous treachery. Against her own family! When I have been nothing but loyal to her all these years. The Crystal Empire has wound itself tightly into Equestria, just as she asked of me when I first came here. I worked hard to demolish the prejudices of the generations and convince them of the virtues of our close friendship and alliance with our great neighbor. All I ever asked in return was to keep my husband rather than watch him rot away. And what thanks do I get for all that I did? A blade in my Shining's back!

She'll pay for this, I promise you. I don't know how, or when, but Princess Celestia will live to regret the day she betrayed Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. I'm not strong enough now, and I can tell nopony of what has happened. But I'll find a way. She won't keep me as some sort of compliant vassal forever, and my babies are not for her to use.

So smile on, Celestia. Grow complacent in your victory here. It isn't over between us, and you will yet suffer for what you've done.

So swear I, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.


	12. Sequel is up!

AN: Hi all, Snake Staff here. Just wanted to announce for any following that the sequel to this story is up at: s/10631015/1/Winter-Storm


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